Russian soldier in Ukraine discusses North Korean weapons in video — Radio Free Asia

Video of a Russian soldier in Ukraine speaking about ammunition provided by North Korea surfaced on social media this week, apparently debunking denials by Pyongyang and Moscow that the remoted East Asian nation is supplying weapons for the struggle there.

A video titled “A number of rocket launcher (MRL) extended-range shells kindly offered by North Korean comrades have arrived within the NVO zone,” was shared on Nov. 12 on a Telegram channel referred to as Paratrooper’s Diary, which accommodates frequent posts from Russian troops combating within the northern entrance in Ukraine.

The video reveals a Russian soldier standing in entrance of a pile of rockets.

“Our buddies gave us a brand new sort of ammunition just like the twenty-second,” the soldier stated in a potential reference to the rocket’s designation of R-122. “They journey farther distances and hit the goal with greater accuracy. The victory might be ours.”  

If the weapons are certainly North Korean, it might be proof that Russia is in violation of U.N. Safety Council Decision 1874, which prohibits arms commerce with North Korea.

The prospect that the rockets had been offered by North Korea could be very probably, David Maxwell, vp of the Heart for Asia Pacific Technique, informed RFA Korean.   

“These MRLs are ubiquitous,” Maxwell stated. “For the reason that weapons are so frequent and so closely used for oblique fireplace in opposition to tactical Ukrainian targets, the Russians are probably going by way of their ammunition shares quickly and thus want resupply from North Korea.”

The rockets within the video had been additionally recognized as North Korean by navy blogger Battle Noir on X. 

“The rockets seem like uncommon R-122 HE-FRAG rockets with F-122 fuzes. These are produced and provided #NorthKorea/#DPRK,” a Nov. 8 tweet by Battle Noir, which contained the identical video, stated. 

RFA beforehand reported that the identical blogger had recognized North Korean weaponry utilized by Hamas fighters in assaults on Israel final month. 

Russian denials

Although each Pyongyang and Moscow have denied that North Korea is supplying Russia with weapons to be used in Ukraine, this isn’t the primary time that proof on the contrary has surfaced.

In October, the Ukrainian weapons evaluation group ‘Ukraine Weapons Tracker’ launched photographs exhibiting the Russian navy utilizing North Korean-made artillery shells in a tweet on X.

However on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, stated at a press convention that allegations that Russia was utilizing North Korean weapons had been “utterly groundless.”

“[The allegations] haven’t been confirmed by something,” he stated.

North Korea has additionally dismissed the concept, calling it an “absurd manipulation of public opinion.”

The USA is deeply involved about “the growth of navy cooperation between North Korea and Russia,” U.S. Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin stated on Tuesday. “North Korea is offering deadly weapons to Russia.”

In the meantime, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification was additionally vital of the obvious uptick in navy cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow at a press briefing final month.

“North Korea has repeatedly denied arms commerce with Russia, however associated circumstances are coming to mild one after one other,” the ministry’s spokesperson Koo Byoung Sam stated. “The true nature of North Korea, which has deceived your complete world, is being revealed to the world.”

RFA despatched a message to the administrator of the Telegram channel to substantiate the veracity of the video which is saying that the Russian navy obtained North Korean weapons however didn’t obtain a response.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.