Arms supplies from DPRK to Russia suspended - NK Pro analysis
Kyiv • UNN
A Russian ship had resumed arms trade with North Korea, but the shipments were abruptly stopped and the containers remained in ports, possibly due to logistical problems or transfer by other means.
Russian ship rejoined the arms trade with North Korea, but the operation was suspended. About this writes Seoul news agency NK Pro, their assumptions are based on the analysis of satellite images Planet Labs. reports UNN.
Details
According to NK Pro's analysis, a Russian cargo ship recently rejoined the alleged operation to deliver weapons to North Korea after a three-month hiatus, replacing another that recently traveled to a Chinese port for possible maintenance.
But shortly after the company moved containers from the North Korean port of Rason to the Russian port of Vostochny in early February, the entire maritime operation seemed to be put on hold. Russian ships associated with the arms shipment suddenly stopped showing up at both ports.
For almost three weeks now, containers that Western and South Korean intelligence and military experts believe were carrying shells used by Russian troops in Ukraine have not been delivered from North Korea.
Experts don't know what the reason for the halt in shipments is:
Operations may have been suspended due to production delays in North Korea or other logistical problems. It also cannot be ruled out that the weapons are being transported to Russia by air or rail across the common border.
It is noted that according to analysts NK Pro shipments from the Korean port of Rajin were carried out from the end of August, in them with varying intensity involved four container ships - "Maya 1", "Angara", "Maria" and Lady R.
The ships made at least 32 voyages to North Korea. They shuttled between Rajin and two ports in Primorsky Krai - the Danube settlement in Konyushkova Bay and the port of Vostochny near Nakhodka. The cargo was then delivered by rail to Tikhoretsk in Krasnodar Krai, located 200 km from the eastern shore of the Sea of Azov.
Russian media, also reacting to the story of arms shipments from Korea note that earlier Maya 1, Angara and Maria were identified by experts from the Royal United Institute for Defence Studies, Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network and British military intelligence.
In particular, according to NK Pro, the container ship Lady R was engaged in transportation until the end of October, then was in Vladivostok (apparently, for scheduled repairs), on January 16 received a certificate including for the transportation of dangerous goods and then made another voyage, visiting Rajin on February 4. The last voyage of Russian ships was recorded on February 12: the Maya-1 came to Rajin. Since then, satellites have not recorded a single voyage to the Korean port.
It is also noted that no new containers were brought to port by rail. And the containers unloaded from Lady R and Maya-1 remain on the pier.
We can assume that they are empty and there is no need to deliver them to recipients in North Korea.
Optional
In the fall, the U.S. reported that North Korea had supplied 1 million shells to Russia. In January, Bloomberg reported 2 million shells and several ballistic missiles, citing South Korean intelligence estimates. The DPRK sent about 6,700 containers containing about 3 million 152-millimeter shells to russia, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said recently.
