Russia Resorting to Weapons from North Korea Indicates Artillery Shortage

Sanctions have forced Moscow to resort to buying arms from North Korea, suggesting that Russia's isolation from global supply chains is hampering its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Citing newly declassified intelligence, The New York Times reported that Moscow was purchasing millions of artillery shells and rockets and was expected to get further equipment from the rogue state in the future.

Mason Clark, from U.S. think tank the Institute for the Study of War, told the Times that Russia's leaders "should be alarmed that it has to buy anything at all" from Pyongyang.

Associate fellow of the London think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Samuel Ramani, said that the alleged attempts to purchase North Korean artillery shells, coupled with transfers of ammunition from Belarus "point to a potential depletion of stocks."

"Without a general mobilization and a war economy, Russia's ammunition reserves are vast but finite," he tweeted on Tuesday.

In sharing the article, Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) tweeted: "The only thing this leak tells us is that the Russian military is consuming a vast amount of 122/152mm artillery shells in Ukraine & that it is settling in for a longer war."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment.

The report comes as the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, warned that the military stock of the bloc's member states had been "depleted in a high proportion, because we have been providing a lot of capacity to the Ukrainians."

Broad economic sanctions imposed on Moscow since Vladimir Putin's invasion on February 24 have not yet blunted Russia's economy, as it remains buoyed by high energy prices.

However, U.S. and European sanctions have blocked Russia's ability to buy weaponry, in particular the electronics that arms require, creating an obstacle in its ability to rebuild its military as the war in Ukraine drags on.

While Beijing is an ally of Moscow and has stepped up its imports of Russian oil, U.S. officials said that China has so far respected export controls aimed at Russia's military and has not tried to sell military hardware or components, The New York Times reported.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, had warned China in March that if its computer chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, or other companies, violated sanctions, the U.S. would effectively shut down those businesses by cutting off their access to the American technology they need.

Frederick Kagan, a military expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told The New York Times that turning to Pyongyang for ammunition signaled "a massive failure of the Russian military industrial complex" that would have "serious implications for the Russian armed forces."

This week, Ukraine's armed forces accused Russia of using "outdated" S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles missiles more often, which, they say, pose a a greater risk for civilian casualties due to a lack of precision.

In August, a report by RUSI described how there were at least 450 types of foreign-made components across 27 of Russia's most modern military systems, such as cruise missiles and communications equipment.

After having access to critical components severed, Russia has attempted to make up the shortfall through import substitution, although RUSI noted that this approach "has subsequently been found to be non-viable."

"Russia must now either design new and likely less-capable weapons or engage in sanctions evasion, which has become a critical priority for its special services," the think tank said.

The U.S. believes that Russia has purchased from Iran the Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series drones, likely for use in the war in Ukraine, CNN reported.

In August, Bloomberg News also reported that a Syrian-based merchant ship under U.S. sanctions passed through Turkey's Bosphorus Strait with military vehicles for Russia.