North Korea has supplied the Russian military with up to 11 million rounds of ammunition
Over the past two and a half years, the North Korean government has supplied millions of rounds of ammunition to the Russian military.
This was reported by Russian media outlets, which, together with analysts from the British Open Source Centre, gained access to documents detailing the movements of ships involved in transporting weapons from North Korea to Russia.
According to their data, since the summer of 2023, four Russian ships have made at least 112 voyages to North Korea and delivered between 8 and 11 million rounds of ammunition to the Russian army.
On average, North Korea supplied Russia with about 350,000 rounds of ammunition per month. This volume would have been sufficient for the Russian army for approximately one month of offensive operations.
Over time, the volume of shipments decreased. Since the beginning of 2026, journalists have recorded only one such voyage. This could be explained by both an increase in Russia’s own shell production and the depletion of North Korea’s stockpiles.
As a reminder, estimates have been made of how much the DPRK has earned from the war against Ukraine.
The first cases of North Korean doctors working in Moscow medical facilities have been recorded, indicating the aggressor’s attempts to overcome an acute staffing shortage in the healthcare system by bringing in workers from Pyongyang.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that he had received assurances from Ukraine: the two North Korean soldiers captured by the Ukrainian military will not be returned to Russia.
