North Korea supplies Russia with up to 50% of ammunition – Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service

Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (UFIS) has stated that North Korea currently provides between 35% and 50% of Russia's ammunition needs.

Source: Oleh Aleksandrov, representative of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, in a comment to Ukrinform news agency

Details: Aleksandrov stated that North Korea is supplying Russia with 200,000-260,000 shells of 152 mm and 122 mm calibres per month.

He also reiterated that Pyongyang has delivered to Russia launchers and short-range ballistic missiles KN-23 and KN-24, which Russian forces are using to attack Ukrainian cities.

According to Aleksandrov, Russia and North Korea are using the war in Ukraine to test and improve the characteristics of North Korean weapons on the battlefield. This includes the modernised version of the Soviet Konkurs anti-tank missile system (the North Korean version is called Phoenix-2), the Bulsae-4 long-range self-propelled anti-tank missile system, and the 600-mm calibre KN-25 multiple launch rocket system.

UFIS estimates that a North Korean military contingent of between 8,500 and 13,000 troops is currently stationed in Russia's Kursk Oblast. This enables Russia to reassign an equivalent number of its own troops to the war against Ukraine.

Intelligence also reported that in September, 1,000 North Korean troops arrived in Kursk Oblast, in line with Pyongyang's announcement that it would send an additional force to the region comprising 1,000 sappers and 5,000 military construction workers.

In addition, the Kremlin is actively employing North Korean labour migrants to offset workforce shortages caused by mobilisation. UFIS reports that over 17,800 North Korean workers are currently employed in Russia. Efforts are also under way to bring in another 26,000 workers, with 6,000 reportedly intended for construction work in temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine.

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