North Korea cuts shell supplies to Russia, launches drone production – Ukrainian intelligence

Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said this in an interview with Reuters, Ukrinform reports.

“The shipment of millions of rounds of artillery shells from North Korea helped Russia keep up rates of fire on the battlefield in 2024, but Skibitskyi said the number had more than halved this year as Pyongyang's stocks ran low,” the report notes, citing Skibitskyi.

The intelligence representative added that there were no shell deliveries recorded from North Korea in September, but some were recorded in October. Around half the shells supplied by Pyongyang were so old that they needed to go to plants in Russia to be improved.

At the same time, Skibitskyi pointed out that North Korea had launched mass production of FPV drones, as well as larger medium-range battlefield attack UAVs, on its own territory.

"They are learning, they are studying their experience (in this war) in order to expand production in their own territory," he said.

As reported earlier, last year thousands of North Korean soldiers fought on Russia’s side in Russia’s Kursk region following the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ offensive. North Korea acknowledged its involvement in events in Ukraine, claiming it was helping to “preserve world peace” in the face of “Western aggression.”

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