North Korea has sent weapons to Russia to aid Ukraine war: White House

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - North Korea has supplied Russia with a significant amount of weaponry to bolster Moscow's war effort in Ukraine, the White House said on Friday.

The shipments began in early September and arrived in the Russian city of Tikhoretsk Oct. 1, according to information distributed by the Biden administration.

The White House distributed satellite images of what it alleged was the arms shipment from North Korea.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said over 1,000 containers that contained munitions and other military equipment have been sent to Russia by Pyongyang.

"We condemn the DPRK for providing Russia with this military equipment, which will be used to attack Ukrainian cities, kill Ukrainian civilians, and further Russia's illegitimate war," he said, referring to North Korea by its formal acronym. "We will continue to monitor for any additional DPRK arms shipments to Russia."

Kirby said the US intelligence community has assessed that North Korea is seeking a variety of military aid in return, including fighter jets, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, equipment to build ballistic missiles, and other advanced technologies.

The US is continuing to monitor to determine whether Russia fulfills the requests, and Kirby said the Biden administration has already "observed Russian ships offloading containers in the DPRK which may constitute the initial deliveries of material from Russia."