With Russia's military stocks running low and domestic production capacity simultaneously hampered by Western sanctions, North Korea has been shaping up as Russia's leading weapons supplier, reportedly providing Moscow with extensive military packages, including ballistic missiles and over 3 million artillery shells.

South Korea's intelligence service is conducting a review into suspicions that North Korea has provided Russia with artillery shells and other weaponry made in the 1970s, the country's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said on May 12.

While the number of missiles Pyongyang has given to Moscow remains a tiny percentage of Russia's overall stockpiles, Ukraine and its allies are concerned about the growing ties between the two countries.

Russia has been shipping refined petroleum to North Korea in volumes that may violate the U.N. Security Council's restrictions, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on May 2, according to Reuters.

Active shooter incident caused four Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to be put on lockdown during the afternoon departure period.

Report to United Nations security council says remnants of Hwasong-11 violate arms export embargo on Russian ally

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said earlier in April that the bloc is preparing its 14th round of sanctions against Russia, which should be adopted in spring.

The U.K.'s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank said the cargo ship the Angara, currently docked at a shipyard in China's eastern Zhejiang province, has been involved in carrying North Korean military cargo to Russia overseas.

South Korea has imposed new sanctions against two Russian organizations, two individuals, and two ships over cooperation with North Korea, the South Korean Foreign Ministry reported on April 2.

The U.S. Pentagon assessed that North Korea continues to supply Russia with weapons, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing on April 1.

Russia on March 28 vetoed the annual renewal of the panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The two countries also said they were increasingly concerned that Russia has been providing refined oil to North Korea.

Russia is defying U.N. sanctions by supplying North Korea with oil, likely in exchange for weapons, the Financial Times (FT) reported on March 26.

North Korea has been shaping up as Russia's leading weapons supplier, reportedly providing Moscow with extensive military packages, including ballistic missiles and over 3 million artillery shells.

The leaders of Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Ukraine signed a joint declaration in support of Ukraine while denouncing Russian aggression during a summit in Tirana on Feb. 28.

Moscow seen continuing to help with Pyongyang's spy satellite program

"Currently, at least 24 ballistic missiles that were most likely produced in North Korea were used during Russian missile attacks on the territory of Ukraine" between Dec. 30, 2023, and Feb. 7, Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin told journalists in Kyiv.

Two of the five missiles Russia launched at Kharkiv early on Feb. 7 were made in North Korea, said Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the Kharkiv Oblast police.

Sources told the New York Times that Russia had helped unblock $9 million in North Korean funds frozen at a Russian bank.

Péter Sztáray, State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, has explained why his country has not condemned North Korea’s arms shipments to Russia for the war against Ukraine, as almost all other EU members have done.

Russia used more North Korean missiles to attack Ukraine in the past few days, and U.S. officials believe they are "proving as accurate as Russia's home-built" weapons, the New York Times reported in its Jan. 23 morning briefing.

Exclusive: Report shows Russian ships loading at North Korean port, amid accusation that Pyongyang supplies missiles and shells

North Korea is currently Russia's largest arms supplier, Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) chief Kyrylo Budanov told the Financial Times in an interview published on Jan. 21.

North Korea’s foreign minister visited Moscow last week in a follow-up to the Russia-North Korea summit in September.

The nuclear envoys of the U.S., South Korea, and Japan condemned North Korea for its weapons trade with Russia, recent missile tests, and increasingly hostile rhetoric at a meeting in Seoul, Reuters reported on Jan. 18.