North Korea has sent Russia at least 13,000 shipping containers believed to be carrying arms since mid-2022, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Tuesday, citing a military intelligence report submitted to lawmakers in the East Asian nation.
“To prepare for a prolonged war in Ukraine, Russia has moved to formalize North Korea as a supply base for weapons and ammunition,” the South Korean Defense Ministry’s intelligence agency was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
According to the report, the containers had the capacity to hold more than 6 million 152-millimeter artillery shells. Military analysts previously said Ponyang may have also shipped 120mm mortars, 122mm artillery shells and 122mm rockets to Russia.