Russian Soldiers Confirm Using North Korean Munitions in Ukraine, But Firing Adjustments Are Needed

Russian soldiers have posted videos on social media thanking North Korea for the new rockets, and photos of artillery shells recently shipped from North Korea also surfaced on the internet – but the potentially inferior quality meant firing adjustments were needed.

In the video, a Russian soldier could be seen standing in front of a pile of rockets and thanking their “friends” from North Korea for the weapons.

In October, Ukraine Weapons Tracker discovered photos of artillery shells used by Russian troops and identified them as North Korean made.

According to the Ukrainian military publication “Vodogray,” the shells were copies of the Soviet 122mm OF-462 and 152mm OF-540 projectiles. They also retrieved field manuals that showed the required range corrections by using different charges for some projectiles.

The fact that these shells appear on the front line instead of stockpiles within Russia could also signify Russia’s dwindling supply of artillery shells; Russia has been relying on its artillery superiority in its current invasion of Ukraine, with some sources putting it at ten to one heavy guns earlier this year.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said in September that they are certain North Korea had supplied 122mm and 152mm artillery shells, as well as Grad rockets, to Russia.

US intelligence believed that North Korea had sent a thousand containers of weapons to Russia, as reported earlier by Kyiv Post.

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Open source intelligence (OSINT) analysts estimated that at least 500,000 shells were sent, while estimations from Estonian intelligence chief Ants Kiviselg placed it at 350,000.

In September, Kim Jong Un paid a high-profile diplomatic visit to Russia to cement ties between the two nations, with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov calling the bilateral relations “new and strategic” a month later.

However, both nations have denied claims on weapon shipments.