This may indicate that the Russian Federation is facing an increasing shortage of its own shells.
The United States of America suspects that North Korea can secretly supply artillery shells to Russia for the war against Ukraine, hiding the true purpose of the cargo. This was stated by the official representative of the White House on national security, John Kirby, with reference to intelligence data in a CNN commentary.
“In September, North Korea publicly denied that it intended to supply ammunition to Russia. However, our information indicates that North Korea is secretly supplying a significant amount of artillery shells for Russia's war in Ukraine,” he said.
According to Kirby, North Korea is trying to create the impression that it is sending ammunition to countries in the Middle East. East or North Africa.
U.S. officials have not yet provided evidence of their assumptions and have not specified exactly how many shells the Russian Federation can receive from North Korea and for what price.
“We will continue to monitor to see if these shipments will be received (by Russia – ed.),” added Kirby.
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At the same time, the States are convinced that such actions indicate a reduction in the aggressor state's stockpiles of its own ammunition for the continuation of the war against Ukraine. Previously, it was believed that the Russian Federation was depleting only its high-precision projectiles, but new data also indicate a decrease in the available number of conventional ones.
Bruce Klingner, a former Korea analyst at the CIA, believes that North Korea is likely to provide the Russians with 122mm and 152mm artillery shells and ammunition for rocket launchers that match Russian equipment.
At the same time, CNN points out that it is not yet clear how much such aid from North Korea will affect hostilities.
In particular, according to Adam Mount of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the director of the Defense Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists, past experience demonstrates the marked inaccuracy and malfunction of North Korean munitions.
Previously, the White House suggested that Russia could purchase “literally millions” of artillery shells and missiles from North Korea. There, it was called another proof of Moscow's “desperation” against the backdrop of a shortage of supplies for its war against Ukraine.
Related video
For more details on the relationship between Russia and the DPRK and how this may affect the war in Ukraine, read in Serhii Korsunsky's article “Will North Korea fight on the side of Russia against Ukraine?“.
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