A story in the New York Times says that recently declassified American intelligence suggests that Russia may be buying millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea. This is a way to talk about the effects of the international sanctions put on Moscow after it invaded Ukraine in February. Research shows that Russia seems to be looking for military supplies in pariah states because sanctions affect supply chains.
Iran made drones that Russia bought, which was another sign that the sanctions were hurting the country.
A New York Times investigation found that the declassified records didn’t say much about the weapons, timing, or size of the shipment from Iran, and that Moscow wanted to buy more equipment from North Korea.
Mason Clark, who is in charge of the Institute for the Study of War’s Russia team, told the New York Times, “The Kremlin should be worried that it has to buy anything from North Korea.”
Even though most of the rest of the world has turned away from North Korea, its government has worked to strengthen its ties with Russia. In recent letters, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Kim Jong-un of North Korea both called for their countries to work together in a “comprehensive” and “strategic and tactical” way.
New information about plans between Russia and North Korea also shows how hard it is for Russia and its military to deal with the Ukraine war.
In the meantime, the Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian storage sites for weapons.
