Report says Russia is buying artillery ammunition from North Korea

Report says Russia is buying artillery ammunition from North Korea
September 6, 2022, 8:40 am

This picture taken on February 8, 2019 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un delivering a speech in Pyongyang. (File photo: AFP)

The New York Times reported, U.S. intelligence has assessed that Moscow is buying artillery ammunition from North Korea. This comes on the heels of reports that the Russian military has begun using Iranian-made drones.

U.S. government officials told the Times that the purchases showed sanctions had begun to bite and reduce Russia's ability to sustain its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow has called a "special military operation".

The Times report on Monday said the recently declassified intelligence provided no details about what was purchased, beyond saying that the items included artillery shells and rockets. Russia was expected to buy more such gear, the Times reported.

Last month, a U.S. official told Reuters that Russia's Iranian-made drones had suffered "numerous failures". The official said Russia most likely planned to acquire hundreds of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).