Russia buys millions of artillery shells and missiles from North Korea. The New York Times writes about this, citing US intelligence data.

This information was declassified after Russia bought the first batch of drones from Iran. US officials believe this is a sign that Russia's supply lines have been weakened by Western sanctions.

The declassified information does not allow to establish data on the composition, size and date of delivery of the batch of weapons. However, a US official said that, in addition to short-range missiles and artillery shells, Russia is expected to try to purchase additional equipment from the DPRK.

Russia has turned to Iran and North Korea because they are cut off from international trade. In addition, they are not afraid of US and international sanctions, which means that neither the DPRK nor Iran can suffer from making deals with Russia. At the same time, any deal to purchase weapons from North Korea would be a violation of UN resolutions aimed at curbing the spread of weapons from Pyongyang.

Russia met half a year of the war not only with irreparable losses in manpower, but also with a huge expenditure of weapons and military equipment. Guided missiles, artillery shells and armored vehicles will run out by the end of the year, and the state of military aviation no longer allows for a full-scale air campaign. Read about what military problems Russia has faced due to sanctions and what will happen next in The Insider.