North Korean artillery now dominates Russia's ammunition supply in war against Ukraine, investigation says

The majority of artillery shells used by Russian forces in Ukraine in 2024 were manufactured in North Korea, according to a joint investigation by Reuters and the Open Source Center (OPS), published on April 15.

North Korea has become a key military ally of Russia, supplying artillery shells, missiles, and reportedly even soldiers in exchange for oil products and advanced rocket technology.

Internal technical reports from Russia’s Defense Ministry, obtained by investigators, indicate that in some Russian military units, between 75% and 100% of artillery shells are North Korean-made. Overall, North Korea is providing roughly half of all artillery shells used by Russian troops, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), as cited by Reuters.

Arms shipments from North Korea to Russia began no later than September 2023, following a July visit to Pyongyang by then–Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the investigation found.

Between September 2023 and March 17, 2025, Russian cargo ships Angara, Maria, Maya-1, and Lady R transported military cargo 64 times from the North Korean port of Rajin to the Russian ports of Danube and Vostochny.

According to satellite images, the ships carried at least 15,809 containers in total. Cargoes from North Korea also traveled by the Friendship Bridge railroad across the Tumanna River in Primorye.

Deliveries peaked in January 2024, with seven batches per month, and cargo ships are currently transporting about three batches of shells per month, according to the investigation. The containers could carry between four and six million artillery shells alone.

The shells were transported by rail to warehouses near the Russian-Ukrainian border, mainly to Tikhoretsk in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin described North Korea as a “partner” and noted that a treaty on military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, signed last year, had come into force.

Putin also suggested on March 27 that countries “friendly” to Russia, including North Korea, could take part in the peace process and negotiations to end Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima