Sea transport of missiles from North Korea to Russia suspended
Sea transport of missiles from North Korea to Russia has been suspended. The flights of ships that delivered over 2.5 million artillery shells to Russia have been suspended. The vessels that transported missiles from North Korea to Russia have been standing at the pier for several weeks now. This was reported by the South Korean publication NK Pro, citing satellite images.
Reasons for suspension
The authors of the publication believe that this could be due to production problems or other reasons.
Details of the transport
In total, ammunition to Russia was transported by four ships — Angara, Maya-1, Maria, and Lady R. According to the portal, these ships made at least 32 trips to North Korea. The last ship Maya-1 last entered the port of Rason in North Korea on February 12, Lady R — February 4. During this time, North Korea also did not deliver containers to the export pier.
Speculations and analysis
It is noted that the containers that were delivered by the ships Maya-1 and Lady R in early February have been left at the pier for the past few weeks. According to analysts, this indicates that «they are either empty or there is no urgent need to deliver them to their destinations in North Korea.»
Satellite images also indicate that containers were not shipped by rail from the internal regions of North Korea to the port of Rason.
«Perhaps the operation was suspended due to a production halt in North Korea or other logistical problems. It is also not excluded that the weapons are being transferred to Russia by air or rail transport through the countries’ common land border,» the material states.
Previous findings
On February 28, the report of CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) stated that analysts had identified the route of delivering ammunition from North Korea to Russia using satellite images taken since August 2023. The movement of ships continued between Rason in North Korea and the ports of Danube and Eastern in Russia. These flights facilitated the transportation of over 2.5 million artillery shells and other ammunition.
Earlier, the South Korean Ministry of Defense reported that North Korea had sent about 6,700 containers to Russia, likely containing three million 152mm caliber shells. Meanwhile, Russia supplies North Korea with food, raw materials, and parts used in the production of weapons.
