Putin having to source arms from North Korea, Iran amid sanctions, says UK

The Russian military is turning to North Korea and other sanctioned states as its supplies run low in its invasion of Ukraine, said British defense officials on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Defense in London confirmed Pyongyang’s hand in the Ukraine war – also reported by US defense officials last week – in an intelligence briefing about the reported shooting down of an Iranian drone in Ukraine, reports the Evening Standard.

“Russia has highly likely deployed Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) in Ukraine for the first time,” the ministry said.

“On 13 September 2022, Ukrainian officials reported that their forces had shot down a Shahed-136 UAV near Kupiansk, in the area of Ukraine’s successful ongoing offensive.”

The briefing explained that the Shahed-136 is a one-way attack UAV with a claimed range of 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) and that similar Iranian-manufactured systems have likely been used in attacks in the Middle East, including against the oil tanker MT Mercer Street in July 2021.

“Russia is almost certainly increasingly sourcing weaponry from other heavily sanctioned states like Iran and North Korea as its own stocks dwindle,” the briefing added.

The New York Times reported last Monday that Russia is buying millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea, citing newly declassified American intelligence.

At a Pentagon press briefing the next day, Defense Department press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the request from Moscow to Pyongyang was “indicative of the situation Russia finds itself in.”

“It does demonstrate and is indicative of the situation Russia finds itself in in terms of logistics and sustainment capabilities as it relates to Ukraine,” Ryder told reporters.

“We assess that things are not going well on that front for Russia, so the fact that they’re reaching out to North Korea is a sign that they’re having some challenges on the sustainment front.”