Vladimir Putin sent an S-400 air defence system and other military assistance to North Korean in exchange for twenty thousands of troops.
The Kremlin sent North Korea an S-400 air defence system in exchange for thousands of troops that battled Ukrainian forces inside Russia.
Since late last year, Russia has supplied at least one Pantsir mobile air defence system, electronic warfare systems and other military support to Pyongyang, an international monitoring report showed on Thursday.
The transfer marks a major violation of international sanctions and signals Moscow’s deepening military alliance with North Korea following the signing of a strategic partnership treaty last June.
Moscow, according to the findings, also helped its ally improve missile performance in return by supplying data.
The group behind the report – the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team – was launched last year to monitor UN sanctions against Pyongyang after a Security Council panel was scrapped by Russia and China.
It found that Pyongyang has supplied more than 20,000 containers of munitions since September 2023, enabling an increase in attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
The shipments include nine million rounds of artillery, more than 100 ballistic missiles and over 200 heavy artillery munitions, as well as anti-tank guided missiles and rockets.
These transfers make up enough supplies to equip three full brigades, the report released by South Korea’s foreign ministry said.
Confirming Western intelligence estimates, it also added that Pyongyang sent over 11,000 troops to Russia in 2024, with 3,000 soldiers sent as reinforcements recently.
The foreign troops have so far been confined to fighting on Russian territory and were considered instrumental in helping Russia expel Kyiv’s troops from the Kursk border region.
Another 8,000 North Korean workers have been sent to Russia to work in sectors such as construction and tech, the report stated, in another breach of sanctions banning the hiring of North Koreans overseas.
It also added that Moscow has provided the North with more than one million barrels of fuel between March and October last year, despite sanctions prohibiting Pyongyang’s annual imports of refined petroleum to 500,000 barrels.
“At least for the foreseeable future, North Korea and Russia intend to continue and further deepen their military cooperation in contravention of relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the monitoring group, which comprises of of the US States, South Korea, Japan, and eight other UN member states, said.
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