WASHINGTON — With aid continuing to flow to Ukraine from the West and its own military increasingly strained by a war now entering its ninth month, Russia is turning to other outcasts from the international community for arms shipments. Last month’s attacks by Russia against Kiev and other Ukrainian targets were carried out by Shahed-136 drones sent by Iran, in violation of United Nations sanctions. (Moscow and Tehran denied the origin of the drones, but Western observers were unconvinced.) Now, intelligence suggests that Russia is also receiving aid from North Korea, another nation under heavy sanctions that operates outside the bounds of international norms. North Korea is “covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while disguising the true destination of arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they are going to countries in the Middle East and North Africa.” Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a morning briefing Wednesday. He did not specify which countries serve as “stopover sites” for North Korean missions, although Iran and Syria would serve as obvious candidates. Kirby also declined to say how the United States obtained information about the shipments or whether efforts would be made to intercept future deliveries. “Obviously we will consult with allies and partners, particularly at the UN, on additional accountability measures,” Kirby told reporters. In October, the United Nations voted with rare near-unanimity to condemn Russia’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories. North Korea and Syria voted against the measure. When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in February, he expected a quick victory that would culminate in regime change in Kyiv. Instead, it is now in a ground war that Ukraine is winning through the innovative use of sophisticated Western weaponry. The story continues Russian tanks damaged in recent battles are seen Sunday near the recently recaptured village of Kamianka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) Russia has suffered staggering losses as a result, with perhaps as many as 70,000 soldiers killed since the conflict began. Equipment losses are also staggering, with 1,183 tanks and 1,304 infantry fighting vehicles destroyed since the start of the war. And with Russia’s own economy largely crippled by sanctions, it has sought help from rogue regimes like those in Tehran and Pyongyang. In addition to drones, Iran could be preparing to send guided missiles to Russia, the Pentagon believes. “We have concerns that Russia may also seek to acquire additional advanced munitions capabilities from Iran — for example, surface-to-surface missiles — for use in Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said earlier this week. Iran is believed to have sent members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Crimea last month to help train the Russians in the use of the new Shahed-136 drones. North Korea and Russia agreed on a munitions sale several weeks ago. only now does it appear that this sale has finally been executed. “We don’t think this is going to change the course of the war,” Kirby said of the mission, though he said the number of shells “was not insignificant.” Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, Iran in July. (West Asia News Agency/Handout via Reuters) Apart from North Korea and Iran, Belarus is one of the few countries in the world willing to help Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: its authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, is a close ally of Putin. China has largely refrained from attempts to punish or isolate Russia, and the two neighboring superpowers have maintained a strong trade relationship. And although China and Russia also have close military ties, Beijing has so far shown little interest in helping Putin on the battlefield.
