The Biden administration alleged that North Korea has provided Russia with a “significant number of artillery shells” to use in Ukraine and attempted to obscure those shipments.
“Our information indicates that the DPRK is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. He also said that the North Koreans attempted to disguise these shipments by making them “appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa.”
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Kirby declined to be more specific in terms of the amount of artillery shells North Korea is attempting to provide, though he noted the U.S. doesn’t believe it will be enough to shift the course of the war fundamentally.
“We don’t believe it is not an insignificant number of shells, but we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south,” he explained. “That said, and I don’t want to sound flippant here, the provision of any additional weapons and ammunition to show clearly is bad news for the Ukrainian people because it allows the Russians just that much more capability to kill, to murder, and to destroy.”
Kirby reiterated that “our indications are that the DPRK is covertly supplying and we’re going to monitor to see whether shipments are received” when he was asked if the Russians had actually received the artillery shells.
U.S. officials first alleged North Korea could supply artillery to Russia back in early September, though the North Koreans denied the allegations.
“Recently, the U.S. and other hostile forces talked about the ‘violation of a resolution’ of the UNSC [United Nations Security Council], spreading a ‘rumor of arms dealings’ between the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and Russia. … We have never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before and we will not plan to export them,” the state-controlled KCNA news agency said in late September.
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The administration announced late last month that a small number of people connected with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had traveled to Crimea to help train the Russians on the drones. Iranian leaders have repeatedly denied providing weapons to Russia, while administration officials warned this week that the sides have grown closer since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
The Iranian-made drones have been used by Russian forces in recent weeks as they have bombarded Ukraine’s electrical grid throughout the country, plunging much of the country into darkness and into water insecurity. Russian leaders have reiterated their belief that these strikes have hit legitimate military targets, despite the far-reaching effects on the country.
