Half of shells used by Russia come from North Korea - The Times

A source of the agency, who cited Western intelligence data, Russia has become dependent on supplies from North Korea after Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang earlier this year.

Western intelligence assesses that many of the North Korean shells may be faulty, but their sheer number allowed Russia to achieve consistent successes on the battlefield.

The Times' source noted that despite this, Russia is suffering significant losses in Ukraine - about 1,200 military personnel per day, 480 of them in the battle for the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.

According to Western intelligence, Russia is currently unable to simultaneously capture Pokrovsk and push Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region without mass mobilization; however, the Russian authorities are not taking that step at this time.

The source of the agency added that there are currently no signs that Putin is backing away from his main goal of subjugating Ukraine's sovereignty. He also added that he sees no prospects for negotiations in the near future.

Cooperation between Russia and North Korea

In September, The New York Times reported that Russia received new shipments of ballistic missiles from North Korea. These are short-range Hwasong-11 missiles.

Additionally, it was revealed last September that Pyongyang supplies 152-mm artillery shells and Katyusha rockets to Russia.

Recently, the head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that the supply of artillery ammunition to Russia from North Korea creates serious problems for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the front. Moreover, after such deliveries, there has been an escalation of hostilities