Russia buys weapons in North Korea-U.S.
2022.12.22 10:52
Russia buys weapons in North Korea-U.S.
Budrigannews.com – A senior administration official stated on Thursday that the private Russian military company known as the Wagner Group received an arms shipment from North Korea to support Russian forces in Ukraine, indicating the organization’s growing involvement in the conflict.
“We are able to confirm that North Korea has successfully delivered the initial arms to Wagner, which paid for the equipment. According to the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, “North Korea delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia for use by Wagner last month.”
According to the official, “but we are concerned that North Korea is planning to deliver more military equipment to Wagner,” the amount of material delivered by North Korea will not alter the dynamics of the battlefield in Ukraine. This assessment is based on intelligence that will be made public on Thursday.
The United States intends to raise the issue with the United Nations Security Council because they believe North Korea’s arms delivery is a direct violation of resolutions. Weapons experts claim that Pyongyang has produced both shorter-range weapons and ballistic missiles that can strike almost anywhere on Earth.
According to the official, Russian President Vladimir Putin is increasingly turning to the Wagner Group, which is owned by his friend Yevgeny Prigozhin, for assistance in Ukraine, where Russian forces have failed in their attempt to overthrow the Kyiv government.
In an effort to further restrict supplies to the contractor, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday new restrictions on the export of technology to the Wagner Group.
According to the official, the Russian company and its international support group will be subject to additional sanctions in the coming weeks.
On the condition of anonymity, the official stated that Russian businessman Prigozhin has difficulty recruiting Russians to fight in Ukraine despite spending more than $100 million per month to fund Wagner’s operations there.
According to the official, Wagner is estimated to have 50,000 personnel deployed in Ukraine, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 inmates recruited from Russian prisons.
The Russian veterans who work for the Wagner Group have fought in Mali, Libya, Syria, and the Central African Republic, among other places.
According to the official, U.S. intelligence indicates that Wagner played a significant role in the battle for Bakhmut, a Ukrainian city, and sustained significant casualties there. About 1,000 Wagner fighters, the majority of whom were prisoners, were killed in recent weeks.
Inside Russia, Prigozhin’s impact is extending, and his gathering’s “freedom from the Russian Safeguard Service has expanded during the conflict in Ukraine,” the authority said, without giving proof.
According to the official, “the Russian military has been relying on Wagner to lead combat operations in parts of the Donbas for months” and “in some instances, Russian military officials are actually subordinate to Wagner’s command.”
More Patriot missiles will not solve conflict in Ukraine-Russia
Prigozhin has also criticized Russian defense officials and generals for their performance in Ukraine.
According to the official, “It is evident that Wagner is emerging as a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries.”
