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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A newly downgraded U.S. intelligence report is alleging that the overstretched Russian military plans to buy rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to replenish its failing supplies as it prosecutes its war in Ukraine.
Speaking on
condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence determination, a U.S.
official said Monday that the fact that Russia is turning to the isolated state
of North Korea demonstrates that “the Russian military continues to suffer from
severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and
sanctions,” The Associated Press reported.
The planed purchase by the Russia Defense Ministry is an indication of how bad things have really gotten to in the over six months of Moscow's military aggression in Ukraine.
The
intelligence findings is coming after revelations by the Biden administration
that the Russia military took delivery of Iranian made drones for use on the
battlefields in Ukraine, according to The Associated Press.
Iran
supplied Russia with Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles over
several days last month in what the Biden administration said was a plan by the
Kremlin to acquire hundreds of Iranian UAVs for use in Ukraine.
North Korean
leaders said they would be willing to send construction workers to help the
rebuilding efforts in Russian-occupied territories in the east of the country.
North Korean
became the only country other than Russia and Syria to recognize the
independence of the territories, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Any supply
of weapons to Russia by Pyongyang would constitute a violation of U.N.
resolutions that ban the country from exporting to or importing weapons from
other countries, according to The Associated Press.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently exchanged
letters calling for “comprehensive” and “strategic and tactical” cooperation
between the two countries, according to The Associated Press.