North Korea (DPRK) has established regular supplies of ammunition to Russia.
Experts from the British Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) came to this conclusion after analyzing dozens of recent satellite images taken over the base of the Russian Pacific Fleet in Fokino (Primorsky Krai) and the North Korean port of Rason.
In August, satellites recorded two Russian dry cargo ships "Angara" and "Maria", which in total delivered several hundred containers to North Korean ports at least five times, and then took out others from there. During the flights, they hid their geolocation by turning off the transponders.
Loading the Hangar in Rason, North Korea
Planet Labs
Both cargo vessels belong to legal entities connected with military logistics. The companies "M Leasing" and "Marine Trans Shipping", which own the ship "Angara", have been under US sanctions since May 2022 for transporting weapons. "Maria" and its owners have not yet been sanctioned.
According to analysts, the end point of the container route was the ammunition depot in Tikhoretsk (Krasnodar Krai), which is 200 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The images from September 28 show trains delivering the same containers that were loaded into the DPRK to this facility. In addition, the territory of the warehouse itself has significantly expanded since August 2023.
Expansion of the warehouse in Tykhoretsk
Planet Labs
RUSI data is also confirmed by journalists of the "Dossier" publication. According to their information, a load of 50 tons of rockets with bursting charges was being transported in the hold of the "Angara". At the same time, the DPRK is not mentioned once in the shipʼs documents, which the journalists got acquainted with. At the same time, the destination is often indicated as Striletska Bay, on the shore of which a Russian military base is located.
Earlier, the USA accused North Korea of supplying ammunition and military equipment to Russia. The White House statement mentioned the warehouse in Tykhoretsk.
- In September, the leader of the DPRK Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia for negotiations with Putin about the supply of North Korean weapons to the Russian occupiers. Before that, The New York Times wrote that the parties would discuss military cooperation: Russia would ask for ammunition and weapons, and North Korea would ask for advanced satellite technology and developments related to nuclear submarines.
- The US is worried about active negotiations between North Korea and Russia about weapons. White House national security official John Kirby said that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to North Korea in late July to try to persuade Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia.
- The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said in September that the DPRK is transferring 122 and 152 mm artillery shells to Russia, as well as missiles for the "Grad" rocket launcher systems.
- The analytical project of the American Center for Strategic and International Studies "Beyond Parallel" recently recorded that the number of rail freight transportation between North Korea and Russia has increased dramatically.