Russia has supplied North Korea with over 1 million barrels of oil, report finds
Russia is thought to have supplied its ally North Korea with over a million barrels of oil since March, analysis by the Open Source Center (OSC) and BBC News has found.
The OSC, a UK-based non-profit organization, analyzed hundreds of satellite images over an eight-month period. They showed dozens of North Korean tankers traveling between the Russian port of Vostochny and North Korean facilities in journeys made over 40 times, it said.
The first documented oil transfer took place on March 7, the OSC report said, months after it emerged that Pyongyang was helping to supply Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Some context: The oil deliveries would violate UN sanctions, which prohibit large-scale transfers of petroleum to the isolated state.
The revelation also highlights the growing alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang, as North Korean soldiers join Russian forces on the battlefield. An estimated 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region.
A US official told CNN earlier this month that Russia has amassed a large force of tens of thousands to carry out an assault on Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region.
As well as sending troops, North Korea has been helping Russia in its war against Ukraine by supplying weaponry and shells.
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