U.S. ACCUSES N. KOREA OF SUPPLYING RUSSIA WITH ARTILLERY

The North Korean government is covertly funneling artillery shells to aid Russia in its war in Ukraine using countries in the Middle East and North Africa to mask the weapons’ movement, the White House said Wednesday, although it was not yet clear whether those shipments were received.

The shipments include “thousands” of shells, John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters. He characterized the number as “significant” but not enough to alter the war’s trajectory “in any appreciable way.”

Kirby would not disclose how the North Koreans might be shipping the artillery shells or which countries are believed to be transfer points, saying only, “We do have a sense of where they’re going” and that the United States would “continue to look at what our options are.”

The allegation comes several weeks after the Biden administration warned that Moscow was seeking to purchase such materiel, prompting a vehement denial from Pyongyang. That Russian President Vladimir Putin is turning to North Korea to augment his military’s arsenal was further indication that Russia’s position in Ukraine was weakening, Kirby said, crediting “the efficacy of international sanctions” that have hobbled Russia’s defense industrial base.

“Back in September, we had indications that Russia was willing to buy,” he said. “Now we have indications that Russia has purchased — and they’re on the move.”

In the Middle East, Russia has close relations with Syria, where it has been President Bashar Assad’s primary military patron in an 11-year civil war that has become a standoff with rebel and extremist groups largely backed into a corner in the northwestern part of the country.

Assad also maintains relations with North Korea, which has been accused of providing the Syrian military with ballistic missiles and chemical weapons components in defiance of U.N. sanctions. In 2019, the two countries signed an economic cooperation agreement.

In North Africa, Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries are reportedly present at bases and ports controlled by the Libyan National Army of rebel warlord Khalifa Hifter. Researchers say the group is present in more than a dozen nations on the continent.