North Korea is covertly supplying the Russian Federation with large batches of artillery shells for the war against Ukraine.

This was stated by the National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Ukrinform’s own correspondent reports.

“In September, North Korea publicly denied that it intended to supply ammunition to Russia for use in Ukraine. However, our information indicates that the DPRK is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells,” the White House official noted.

CNN reported that the intelligence data came about two months after the U.S. intelligence community said it believed Russia was purchasing millions of missiles and artillery shells from North Korea.

At the end of September, North Korea denied supplying its weapons to the Russian Federation.

It is emphasized that, on the one hand, this indicates a shortage of ammunition for the Russian military, and on the other, that the Russians have found a way to replenish their arsenals at the expense of both North Korean and Iranian systems.

“We have never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before, and we do not plan to export them,” the Ministry of Defense of North Korea stressed at the time.

As previously reported, Iran is preparing to provide Russia with approximately 1,000 additional weapons, including surface-to-surface short range ballistic missiles and more attack drones.

According to the officials cited by journalists, this delivery can be made by the end of the year.

As previously reported, the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported that Iran is preparing to supply Shahed-136, Mohajer-6 and Arash-2 drones to the Russian Federation.