Russia supplied North Korea with over a million barrels of oil for military assistance
Illustrative photo: Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin (kremlin.ru)
Since March of this year, Russia has sent 56 thousand tons of oil (i.e., more than a million barrels) to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). This was probably Moscow's way of paying for Pyongyang's provision of soldiers and weapons to help in the war with Ukraine, reports BBC.
According to the British research center Open Source Center, after analyzing satellite images, over the past 8 months, more than 12 DPRK tankers have made 43 trips between the Russian oil terminal in the Far East and North Korean ports.
According to the photos of the tankers at sea, they went to Russia empty and returned to the DPRK already loaded.
Leading experts are convinced that with this oil, the Kremlin is paying off the DPRK for the weapons and soldiers that Pyongyang provides to the Russian side as part of its assistance in the war against Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy shares a similar opinion.
The first passage, documented by the Open Source Center, took place on March 7, 7 months after the first reports of North Korea's provision of its munitions to Russia. The last was recorded on November 5.
According to Joe Byrne, a senior analyst at the Open Source Center, such constant oil supplies give the DPRK “a level of stability that it has not seen since the sanctions were imposed.”
North Korea is under UN sanctions because of its nuclear program. The DPRK is prohibited from purchasing more than 500 thousand barrels of oil per year.
In early September, Western media reported that after Pyongyang supplied missiles to Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin sent his DPRK counterpart Kim Jong Un more than two dozen thoroughbred horses. Allegedly, this was part of the payment for the North Korean missiles.
In October, Bloomberg reported that Russia had recently been using more DPRK shells than its own in the war against Ukraine.
Putin also sent Kim Jong Un more than 70 animals of various species as a gift.
