A recently declassified intelligence report from the American government revealed that Russia is purchasing millions of various military supplies including artillery shells, rockets, and ammunition.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder gave a press conference at the White House last Tuesday, and he said that there are indications that Russia has approached North Korea to request those supplies.
Ryder continued, “I’m not able to provide any more detail than that at this point in time, but it does demonstrate and is indicative of the situation that Russia finds itself in terms of its logistics and sustainment capabilities as it relates to Ukraine.”
This report is good news as well as bad news. The bad news is seeing a new connection between Russia and North Korea. The good news is that this new purchase is a solid indication that the global sanctions placed against Putin have significantly restricted their supply chains.
This has forced the president of Russia to negotiate with an untrustworthy trading partner for military supplies.
Gen. Ryder said that the assessment on this issue is that “things are not going well on that front for Russia.”
The New York Times first reported on this negotiation between the two countries, and this came on the heels of Russia receiving initial shipments of drones from Iran. So now we have three of the most dangerous countries locking arms against Ukraine and all of its allies.
The question is, why was this information declassified on Tuesday? Gen. Ryder said that it was a way to illustrate the condition of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Vedant Patel, a U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson, gave some details about the number of supplies in this new deal with North Korea. He said that Russia is in the process of buying millions of rockets and artillery shells, according to the news source “Reuters.”
White House Says Putin is Buying Millions of Rounds of Ammunition From North Korea
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that they sensed that it included literally millions of rounds of ammunition, rockets, and artillery shells. He said their information sources tell them it could be on that kind of scale.
“He was buying drones from Iran, now he’s going to buy artillery rounds from North Korea. It’s an indication of how much his defense industrial establishment is suffering as a result of this war and the degree of desperation that he’s reaching out to countries like Iran and North Korea for assistance,” Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.
Apparently, there has not been finalization to the trade deal as of yet. Kirby said that there were no indications that the purchase was completed and no indications that any weapons are being used from the deal inside of Ukraine.
Gen. Ryder was asked this same question and he said that he did not have details to provide an answer at this some. He would give more information later on the status of the deal.
On Russia’s side, United Nations Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has denied the allegations. He called this story “another fake thing that’s been circulated, I can only laugh about it,” according to the Associated Press.
This deal in the making is the first sign that increases the likelihood that sanctions are impacting Russia. The economic sanctions against the country are broad, and it has been surprising how little it seems to have affected them. In fact, the invasion has caused the energy prices to fill the Kremlin’s treasury and actually strengthen its economy, according to The New York Times.
Even the sanctions against individual Russian oligarchs have not seemed to put a dent in Putin’s plans for keeping the war advancing.
So if his hand has been forced to deal with North Korea, that is good news.
