North Korea Supplying Half Of Russia’s Ammunition Needs, Deploying Troops To Warfront

North Korea is supplying almost 50% of Russia’s ammunition needs for its conflict in Ukraine, Ukraine’s military intelligence head, Kyrylo Budanov, said at a press conference on Sunday. Budanov disclosed that Pyongyang has increased its military aid to Moscow to a great extent, including sending thousands of soldiers the nation’s biggest deployment in a foreign war since the 1950s.

Aside from ammunition, North Korea has started to supply Russia with mass shipments of 170-mm self-propelled howitzers and 240-mm multiple rocket launch systems. Budanov also reported that Pyongyang previously supplied ballistic missiles to Russia and is likely to deliver 148 more in 2025.

Ukraine’s foreign intelligence head, Oleh Ivashchenko, reported that Russia will produce more than seven million artillery and mortar shells in the coming year alone, significantly outpacing production in Europe. Russian forces, meanwhile, will also produce some 3,000 long-range missiles in 2025.