Did North Korea Sell Weapons to Russian Mercenary Group for Ukraine War?

The White House said on Thursday that a private Russian military firm, the Wagner Group, has accepted the shipment of North Korean weapons to assist in boosting Russian troops in Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of Wagner, dismissed the allegation as "gossip" and an assumption.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated that the White House was aware that Wagner was looking for new sources of weapons to help in its military activities in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The official said that the US "can confirm" that Wagner, the company paying for the weapons from North Korea, received the first shipment, which includes infantry rockets, last month, according to Reuters.

In 2014, the Wagner Group was established after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and its subsequent instigation of a separatist insurrection in Ukraine's eastern Donbas area.

Kirby said that the United States believes Wagner has deployed in Ukraine 50,000 individuals, including 10,000 mercenaries and 40,000 criminals recruited from Russian jails.

Wednesday saw additional Wagner Group technology export restrictions from the Biden administration. Kirby warned that the corporation and its international backers would face more penalties in the coming weeks.

More than $100 million is being spent each month to support Wagner's activities in Ukraine, although Prigozhin has reportedly had trouble enlisting Russians to participate there, according to the White House official.

Wagner's Involvement in the Russia-Ukraine War

Wagner Group members are all ex-servicemen from the Russian military. They have seen action in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, and Mali.

US intelligence states that about 1,000 Wagner fighters have been killed in the past few weeks. This suggests that Wagner played a big part in the battle in Bakhmut, a city in Ukraine.

Prigozhin, the restaurant's proprietor, is an oligarch known as "Putin's chef" due to his background as a restaurateur and Kremlin caterer. As Moscow has been met with several failures in the Russia-Ukraine war, Wagner's influence and presence have significantly increased.

A close supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, remarked that Kirby often made assumptions in his public pronouncements.

In a statement, he said that Moscow had not received any North Korean weapons in quite some time. "And no such efforts have even been made."

Pyongyang Denies US Intelligence Report

While the United States believes North Korea's weapons won't alter the balance of power on the battlefield, Pyongyang is still anticipating sending additional military hardware.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly stated that Washington's opinion was shared by his country, per the BBC.

In a press statement, Foreign Secretary Cleverly remarked that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to seek assistance from North Korea displays Russia's "desperation and isolation."

After the White House alleged that Russia was receiving a substantial quantity of North Korean weapons in November, North Korea asserted it had never conducted military deals with Russia and had no intentions to provide weapons to Moscow.

Meanwhile, a representative for North Korea claimed that the country's stance is unmoved and that there has "never been" a weapons transaction between North Korea and Russia.

Al Jazeera reported that a representative for the North Korean foreign ministry responded to a media report on the supposed shipment of weapons to Wagner by calling the information fake and the "most absurd red herring, which is not worth any comment or interpretation."