North Korea: He sent up to 6 million missiles and Putin managed to continue the war

North Korea’s “Life Line” to Russia. North Korea supplied Russia with four to six million missiles Artillery in the last 20 months, which have been actively used in the war against Ukraine.

Reuters survey confirmed that deliveries were carried out on a large and systematic scale – Through marine and rail routes- significantly enhancing the military potential of the Russian army.

This is a Reuters survey in collaboration with the British Open Source Center Analysis Center (OSC)

OSC analysts watched 64 trips to the port of Ratzin, North Korea, which took place between September 2023 and March 2025 by four Russian flag ships-Angara, Maria, Maia-1 and Lady R-in Russian ports and Bastotsi. These trips surrendered nearly 16,000 containers with North Korean shells and other ammunition, which were subsequently transferred to warehouses near the Ukrainian border.

‘It is not possible Verify the ammunition in each container, but the OSC appreciated what it called a conservative range of 4-6 million artillery shots, based on Ukraine’s assessment and potential packaging standards. “

In addition to artillery shells, North Korea also transferred to Russia multiple launch missile systems, Automotive artillery units and ballistic missiles.

North Korea has become one of the main sources of ammunition for the Russian army. The scale and systematic nature of these supplies highlight a new level of military and political relationship between the two countries that have received sanctions.

According to Reuters, the overwhelming majority of shells used by some Russian units last year came from North Korea.

In daily reports from Russian artillery units analyzed by Reuters, up to 100% of the ammunition used some days were of North Korean origin. In other cases, this figure reached 75%.

“Last summer, a unit on the southeastern front of Zaporizia reported that almost 50% of the missiles launched by the D-20 ovidobolas were North Korean missiles of 152 mm, while 100% of 122 mm rockets were North Korean.”

Ukraine’s defense service said North Korea had supplied Russia with more than four million artillery missiles since mid -2023, including 122 mm and 152 mm diagrams, which are the backbone of the Russian artillery units.

“North Korea’s contribution was strategically vital. Without the support of President Kim Jong Un, President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t really be able to Continue his war in Ukraine‘, Hiu Griffiths, a former UN expert coordinator for sanctions in North Korea, said.

Either way, North Korean traditions would be a major addition to Russian production, calculated by Ukrainian and Western officials to 2-2.3 million artillery missiles in 2024.

The top military commander of the Allied forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, told US legislators on April 3 that he expected that Russia’s annual production would be 3 million artillery missiles, without specifying when that could happen.