According to media reports, North Korea last month provided infantry weapons and missiles to Russia for use by the Wagner company.

North Korea provided a batch of weapons to the Russian PVK “Wagner”. According to the US assessment, the number of weapons from North Korea will not change the dynamics of hostilities in Ukraine, but we are concerned that North Korea plans to supply more military equipment.

This was reported by Reuters with reference to a high-ranking American official who spoke on condition of anonymity. It is noted that the purpose of sending weapons is to strengthen the occupation forces in Ukraine and to expand the role of the PMK in the war.

“We can confirm that North Korea has completed the initial arms shipments to Wagner, which paid for the equipment. Last month, North Korea provided infantry weapons and missiles to Russia for use by Wagner,” the official said.

The United States emphasized that the supply of weapons by North Korea is a direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The Americans plan to raise this issue in the Security Council. According to experts, Pyongyang has created ballistic missiles that can hit almost any point on the ground, as well as shorter-range weapons.

Later, the representative of the White House on matters of national security, John Kirby, confirmed this information, AP writes. He said U.S. intelligence officials had determined that North Korea completed its first shipment of weapons last month, which included missiles.

“We estimate that the amount of materials transferred to the Wagner PMC will not change the dynamics of hostilities in Ukraine. But we are, of course, concerned that North Korea plans to supply more military equipment,” Kirby said.

He said that in some cases, Russian military officials even “obeyed Wagner’s command.” Kirby said that at the moment, the United States estimates that the “Wagner” PMC has about 50,000 people fighting in Ukraine, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts, which the company recruited from prisons.

It is noted that the “Wagner” PMC is not on the balance sheet of military departments and in the register of legal entities, but its fighters, according to numerous journalistic investigations, are participating in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The PMK is considered one of the most combat-capable units participating in battles on Ukrainian territories. Their fighters are suspected of committing numerous war crimes.

In the summer of 2022, information appeared that the “Wagner” PMC was recruiting and sending Russian prisoners to war. The company’s owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is personally close to the Russian president, is engaged in recruiting, and has visited more than ten colonies in different regions of the country.

North Korea helps in the war against Ukraine:

In July, Ukraine severed diplomatic relations with North Korea due to the recognition of the “independence” of the Donbas territories temporarily occupied by Russia.

In November, North Korea said it had never had an arms deal with Russia and had no plans to do so. However, in the same month it became known that a train from North Korea had arrived in Russia for the first time in several years.

John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator at the US National Security Council, said that North Korea is secretly supplying Russia with a significant number of artillery shells.