CNN
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Over the past year, North Korea has sent soldiers, including missiles and rockets, and millions of munitions to Russia. This is according to a new report from the International Watchdog Agency detailing the extent to which Pyongyang helped Moscow “terrorize” the population of Ukraine in the Three Years’ War.
The report was released Thursday by the Multilateral Sanctions Surveillance Team (MSMT), an initiative made up of 11 UN members, formed after Russia forced the dissolution of a previous UN panel that monitored the implementation of sanctions on North Korea.
While some of the team’s findings, including North Korea’s sending troops to fight for Russia, the report excludes the surprising range and range of weapons sent from Pyongyang since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This includes up to 9 million rounds of cannons and ammunition for 2024. A unit of more than 11,000 people last year and another 3,000 people earlier this year. Rocket launchers, vehicles, self-propelled guns, and other types of heavy guns. At least 100 ballistic missiles were then “later launched into Ukraine, destroying civilian infrastructure and terrorizing population areas such as Kiev and Zaporidia,” the report found and cited participating countries.
“These forms of illegal cooperation between (North Korea) and Russia contributed to Moscow’s ability to increase missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, including target strikes against critical civil infrastructure,” the report said.
In return, Russia has provided North Korea with a variety of valuable weapons and technologies, including air defense equipment, anti-aircraft missiles, electronic warfare systems and sophisticated oil, the report said.
Moscow also provides data feedback on Pyongyang ballistic missiles, which will help improve the performance of missile guidance.
These actions “will allow North Korea to fund military programs, develop more ballistic missile programs banned under several (UN Security Council resolutions), and gain direct experience in modern warfare,” the report found.
The findings are based on MSMT participating countries, and said they cited support evidence from the Open Source Centre (OSC), a UK-based nonprofit organization that uses publicly accessible information for research and uses conflict armed research institute (CAR), a UK-based research institute.
Both Russia and North Korea have violated the UN arms embargo and are transferring weapons and military equipment through actors and networks that avoid sanctions, the report alleges. The two countries will likely continue their military cooperation “at least in the near future,” it added.
In the joint statement, the member states behind the MSMT (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, and the US) urged North Korea to “engage in meaningful diplomacy.”
Western governments are increasingly concerned about the long-term impact of what appears to be a deepening strategic partnership between the two countries.
In recent months, the US warned that Russia may be closer to sharing advanced space and satellite technology with North Korea in exchange for ongoing support for war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in April for the first time that North Korean soldiers had joined the battle to restore Russian territory after Ukraine invaded the Kursk region last year. North Korea also confirmed the presence of troops there for the first time in April.
North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk since at least November, but they retreated from the frontline in January after extensive reports of casualties, Ukrainian officials said.
The two countries have denied that Pyongyang is supplying Moscow with weapons despite overwhelming evidence. However, as part of a groundbreaking defence agreement last year, they both promise to use all available measures to provide immediate military aid in the event that other measures are attacked.
Putin warns that if the West continues to arm Ukraine, it will provide weapons to Pyongyang.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian allies have banned Russia from firing long-range missiles as Russia attacks Ukrainian capital and other regions with massive aerial attacks, and the United States is increasingly unhappy with the lack of a peace deal.
