NY.- Russian President Vladimir V. Putin will travel to North Korea on a two-day visit beginning Tuesday to meet with one of the main suppliers of weapons for its war against Ukraine.
As the war has dragged on, Russia has found itself in dire need of conventional weapons, including artillery shells, that North Korea could supply.
Here’s some background on what’s happened so far and why it’s important.
What do we know about previous weapons shipments?
The United States first accused North Korea of selling artillery to Russia in September 2022, seven months after the start of the war. At the time, North Korea denied the allegations.
Then last August, the White House warned that Mr. Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were holding arms negotiations, and in September, Mr. Kim visited Mr. Putin in eastern Russia. A few weeks later, U.S. officials claimed that North Korea had sent more than a thousand containers of weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war. In March, according to authorities, North Korea had sent nearly 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia.
If filled with 152 millimeter artillery shells, the containers could carry up to three million rounds, South Korea’s defense minister said. Or, if filled with 122-millimeter rockets, they could hold more than half a million rounds. They also could have contained a mixture of both weapons, he said. In his latest estimate, the minister, Shin Wok-sik, put the number of containers sent by North Korea to Russia at 10,000 last week.
Additionally, the White House said in January that Russia had begun launching North Korean-made ballistic missiles. Arms control experts said fragments of the Hwasong-11A short-range ballistic missile have been found in the aftermath of Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities for months, including Kharkiv in February. North Korea may also be supplying anti-tank missiles and man-portable surface-to-air missiles, as well as rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and projectiles, they told South Korean military journalists in November.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang deny the arms trade, prohibited by United Nations sanctions.
How important are these weapons?
The war in Ukraine is a war of attrition, in which Russia and Ukraine try to outdo each other, firing thousands of artillery shells, missiles and rockets every day. That means all the ammunition North Korea provides helps Russia maintain an advantage over Ukraine.
The Hwasong-11A series missiles, in particular, have a high degree of accuracy and are difficult to shoot down, according to experts.
But at least some of the other weapons are believed to be old or ineffective. Last fall, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the top U.S. military official at the time, said he doubted it would be “decisive” when asked whether the 152-millimeter projectiles supplied by North Korea would have much of an impact in the field. of battle.
“Would it make a big difference? I’m skeptical about that,” he declared shortly before resigning as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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