The New York Times: Russia has begun purchasing "millions of shells and missiles" from the DPRK The New York Times, citing declassified documents, said that Russia allegedly began purchasing "millions of shells and missiles" from the DPRK.
They believe that Moscow turned to Pyongyang because of "serious restrictions on supply chains." However, American journalists cannot reliably confirm the fact of the purchase. For more information, see the material "Newspapers.Ru".
The New York Times journalist Yuri Kochetkov, citing US intelligence data, said that Russia "buys" millions of missiles and projectiles from the DPRK "in connection with sanctions. According to the author of the material, the United States and Europe have managed to limit Moscow's ability to purchase high-tech weapons and have to turn to the "rogue" countries - the DPRK and Iran. The author of the material does not provide any evidence of the purchase of weapons.
"According to recently declassified US intelligence data, Russia is purchasing millions of artillery shells and missiles from North Korea, which is a sign that global sanctions have severely limited Moscow's supply chains and forced it to turn to rogue states for military supplies," the article says.
It notes that American intelligence revealed information about North Korean missiles after Moscow allegedly bought Iranian drones, which, according to American officials, had technical problems.
"The US has provided few details from declassified intelligence about weapons, timing or volume of deliveries, and there is no way to independently verify the sale," the NYT noted.
Mason Clark, head of the "Russian group" at the Institute for the Study of War, believes that in addition to short-range missiles and artillery shells, Russia is expected to try to purchase additional North Korean equipment in the future. He did not provide more detailed information.
"The Kremlin should be alarmed that it has to buy anything from North Korea at all," Clark believes.
Chinese aid
The article notes that the economic sanctions adopted by the United States and Europe against Russia did not cause significant damage to Russia and only allowed Moscow to replenish its coffers due to rising energy prices. However, the sanctions on the purchase of weapons, according to the authors of the material, have seriously hit Russia's capabilities, and Beijing, despite Moscow's hopes, is in no hurry to compensate the damage to the Russian army with the supply of its weapons.
According to the author, China's position is due to warnings from the United States about serious measures against a major Chinese manufacturer of computer chips - the head of the US Department of Commerce Gina Raimondo warned that if Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation violates anti-Russian sanctions, the company will be deprived of access to American technologies for the production of semiconductors."American and European sanctions have blocked Russia's ability to buy weapons or electronics for their production.
Moscow hoped that China would be ready to abandon this export control and continue to supply Russia with military equipment. But Beijing has not tried to sell either military equipment or its components," the article says.[cloud=bc]
Resource hunger
The NYT claims that most countries refuse to cooperate with Russia on the supply of weapons, and in this regard, Russia has turned to Iran and North Korea.
"Iran and North Korea are largely cut off from international trade thanks to American and international sanctions, which means that neither country has much to lose by making deals with Russia. Any deal to buy weapons from North Korea would be a violation of United Nations resolutions aimed at curbing the proliferation of weapons by Pyongyang," the author of the material believes.
Also, American military expert William Kagan expressed doubt that the possible purchase of North Korean missiles may be related to Moscow's inability to obtain high-tech weapons. Kagan believes that Russia is currently unable to produce the basic tools of conventional warfare. According to him, "in a 152-millimeter artillery shell or a Katyusha-type rocket (a variant of rocket-propelled artillery shells. - approx. "Newspapers. Ru"), which North Korea produces, there is nothing high-tech."
Iranian drones
Over the past few months, the American authorities and the media have claimed that Moscow has been negotiating with Tehran on the supply of strike and reconnaissance drones in the amount of "several hundred pieces." In Russia and Iran, this information is refuted and called "artificially promoted".
On July 11, Assistant to the US President for National Security Jake Sullivan said that the US authorities assume that Iran plans to transfer up to several hundred UAVs to the Russian Federation.
"Our information indicates that Iran plans to train Russian forces in the use of these drones. The first stages of training should begin in early July," Sullivan said.
On August 29, the coordinator for strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, said that Moscow continues to negotiate with Tehran on Russia's purchase of UAVs for their use during a special operation in Ukraine.
"I don't have any new information, but we are following this very closely. We didn't see anything to calm us down. This acquisition, this delivery is still looming, is still [coming] soon," Kirby said in response to a question about whether the US government has information that the Russian Federation has begun using Iranian drones as part of a special operation.
Already on August 30, White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said that Iran had delivered a batch of Mohajer-6 and Shahed UAVs to Russia. She claimed that the UAV equipment was loaded onto Russian transport planes parked at an airfield in Iran, which then flew to Russia. From Washington's point of view, we are talking about an "initial delivery," Jean-Pierre pointed out.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called this information fake.
On August 31, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the topic of the purchase of Iranian UAVs by Russia was artificially created and promoted by the American media.
"We believe that this topic was artificially thrown into the American media, including by The Washington Post, artificially promoted," she said.
Mohajer-6 is a reconnaissance and strike drone capable of carrying up to four precision-guided munitions and conducting electronic warfare. The flight range is up to 200 km. The maximum speed is 200 km/h. The duration of the flight is 12 hours. The maximum height is 18,000 feet (about 5,550 meters).
Shahed 129 is a reconnaissance and strike UAV. Capable of carrying up to four precision-guided munitions. Cruising speed is 150 km/h. Combat range - 1700 km, maximum - 3400 km. Flight autonomy is 24 hours. The maximum height is 7300 m .
Mikhail Rodionov
