North Korea helped Russia to ramp up its missile attacks on key Ukrainian civilian infrastructure through the shipment of thousands of soldiers and artillery shells — with Pyongyang getting sanctions-busting air defense weapons and military equipment in return, officials revealed Thursday.
The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group comprising 11 United Nation members observing the sanctions against Pyongyang, found that Russia and North Korea had violated UN sanctions to bolster their military ambitions.
Moscow received more than 12,000 North Korean troops to help retake the Russian region of Kursk from Ukraine earlier this year. The Kremlin also got as many as nine million rounds of artillery and rocket launcher ammunition from North Korea, the MSMT confirmed in its first report.
Ukrainian State Emergency Service/AFP via Getty Images
Even before Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un formally signed a new military alliance last year, Pyongyang had shipped ballistic missiles, self-propelled artillery, long-range multiple rocket launchers to the Kremlin, the MSMT added.
“Pyongyang contributed to Moscow’s ability to increase its missile attacks against Ukrainian cities, including targeted strikes against critical civilian infrastructure,” the report said.
In return for the men and weapons, Russia gifted Kim at least one Pantsir mobile air defense system, a medium-range surface-to-air interceptor and anti-aircraft weapon, officials said.
North Korea also received a Pantsir-class combat vehicle, electronic warfare jamming devices and other military equipment to bolster Kim’s defense systems, according to the report.
MSMT found that Moscow also “supported North Korea’s ballistic missile programs by providing data feedback… leading to improvements in missile guidance performance.”
Along with the military trades, the MSMT found that Pyongyang and Moscow were engaging in financial transactions through North Korea-owned bank accounts in South Ossetia, a city in the nation of Georgia.
Neither North Korea nor Russia have publicly confirmed the exchange of military equipment or technology under their mutual defense pact, which Putin and Kim signed last year.
