Russian ships, which have been regularly plying between the ports of North Korea and Russia since last fall, have stopped sailing. For almost three weeks, containers in which, according to Western and South Korean intelligence and military experts, were transporting projectiles used by Russian troops in Ukraine, were not delivered from North Korea, The Moscow Times notes.

Deliveries from the North Korean port of Rajin have been carried out since the end of August with the participation of four container ships Maya 1, Angara, Maria and Lady R, reports the Seoul-based news and analytical portal NK Pro.

NK Pro monitored the situation by evaluating satellite images provided by the American laboratory Planet Labs.

Dozens of vehicles

The ships made at least 32 trips to North Korea. Expeditions were carried out between Rajin and two ports of the Primorsky Krai, a settlement in Konyushkov Bay and the port of Vostochny near Nakhodka in southeastern Russia.

The cargo was then delivered by rail to Tikhoretsk, Krasnodar Territory, 200 kilometers from the eastern shore of the Sea of ​​Azov.

Earlier transports by Maya 1, Angara and Maria were also identified by experts from the Royal Joint Defense Research Institute, the Open Nuclear Network Vienna and British military intelligence.

The container ship Lady R carried out transportation until the end of October, then it was in Vladivostok, apparently for scheduled repairs, on January 16 it received a certificate for the transportation of dangerous goods and made another trip, arriving in Rajin on February 4, writes NK Pro.

This would be the penultimate flight of Russian ships: Maya-1 arrived at Rajin on February 12. Since then, satellites have not recorded any flights to the North Korean port.

In addition, new containers were delivered by rail from North Korea. And the containers unloaded from Lady R and Maya-1 remained on the berths. “It can be assumed that they are empty and there is no need to deliver them to recipients in North Korea,” NK Pro experts write.

They do not know the reasons for the stoppage of transportation.

“Operations may be suspended due to production delays in North Korea or other logistical issues. Also, it cannot be ruled out that weapons are transported to Russia by air or rail across the common border,” the cited analysts also estimate.

North Korea sent “several million projectiles” to Russia.

In the fall, the United States announced that Pyongyang had supplied Moscow with a million missiles. In January, Bloomberg reported that, according to South Korean intelligence, 2 million projectiles and several ballistic missiles were delivered to Russia.

North Korea has sent 6,700 containers of millions of ammunition to Russia since last July, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told local media on Monday, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

According to a Seoul official, the capacity of the containers in question is more than three million 152 mm shells or 500,000 122 mm artillery shells. He specified that it could be both types, and the conclusion is that “at least several million shells were sent,” Agerpres notes.

Hundreds of North Korean munitions factories are operating at about 30% capacity due to a lack of raw materials and electricity, but those producing munitions for Russia are operating at maximum capacity, the minister said, without specifying the source of the information he had.

Seoul and Washington have accused Pyongyang and Moscow of trading arms and condemned North Korea for supplying weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine. Both the North Koreans and the Russians deny the allegations, although they have promised to increase military cooperation.