What weapons is North Korea accused of supplying to Russia?

Moscow needs conventional weapons like artillery shells and missiles that North Korea could supply to give it an advantage in its war usury in Ukraine.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Russian President Vladimir V. Putin will travel to North Korea for a two-day visit starting Tuesday to meet with one of the major arms suppliers for its war against Ukraine.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As the war dragged on, Russia found itself in dire need of conventional weapons, including artillery shells, which North Korea could provide.

Here's a look at what's happened so far and why it's important.

What do we know about past arms deliveries?

The United States was the first to accuse North Korea of ​​selling artillery to Russia as early as September 2022, seven months after the start of the war. At the time, North Korea denied the accusations.

Then, last August, the White House warned that Mr. Putin and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was conducting arms negotiations, and in September Mr. Kim visited Mr. Putin in eastern Russia. Weeks later, U.S. officials said North Korea had shipped more than 1,000 containers of weapons to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. In March, officials said, North Korea sent nearly 7,000 weapons containers to Russia.

If they were filled with shells of 152-millimeter artillery, the containers could carry up to three million rounds, the South Korean defense minister said. Or, if they were filled with 122-millimeter rockets, they could hold more than half a million rounds. They could also have had a mixture of the two weapons, he added. In his latest estimate, Minister Shin Wok-sik last week put the number of North Korean shipping containers sent to Russia at 10,000.

In addition, the The White House said in January Russia had begun launching ballistic missiles produced in North Korea. Arms control experts said fragments of the Hwasong-11A short-range ballistic missile were found following Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities for months, including Kharkiv in February. North Korea could also provide anti-tank missiles and man-portable surface-to-air missiles, as well as rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells, South Korean military officials told reporters in November.

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