US and allies accuse North Korea of ramping up military aid to Russia in UN sanctions breach
Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team says Russia sent air defense systems to Pyongyang and trained its forces in return
The US and 10 allies on Thursday said the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea flagrantly violated UN sanctions and enabled Moscow to increase its missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.
They made the allegations in their first report since joining hands to monitor sanctions against North Korea after Russia vetoed a resolution in March 2024 to continue the monitoring by a UN Security Council panel of experts.
The panel had been issuing reports of Pyongyang’s sanctions violations since 2010.
The report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team – comprised of the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea – said it had gathered evidence showing that North Korea and Russia engaged in “myriad unlawful activities” explicitly prohibited by UN sanctions resolutions.
It claimed that North Korea had transferred arms and related materiel by sea, air and rail, including artillery, ballistic missiles and combat vehicles, for Russia’s use in the war in Ukraine.
Russia transferred air defense systems to Pyongyang in return and its forces trained North Korean soldiers sent to support the war effort, the team claimed.
Moscow also supplied refined petroleum products to Pyongyang in far excess of the yearly cap under the UN sanctions and maintained corresponding banking relations with the country.
The 11 countries said this unlawful cooperation had “contributed to Moscow’s ability to increase its missile attacks against Ukrainian cities including targeted strikes against critical civilian infrastructure”.
The cooperation also provided resources for North Korea to fund its military and banned ballistic missile programmes and allowed the nearly 11,000 troops deployed by Pyongyang to Russia to gain battlefield experience, the team said.
There was no immediate response from the Russian mission to the United Nations to a request for comment on the report.
The report covers the period between 1 January 2024 and 30 April 2025 and points to evidence that Russia and North Korea intend to further deepen their military cooperation for at least the foreseeable future.
It cites an unnamed team member reporting that Russian cargo vessels delivered nine million rounds of ammunition for artillery and multiple rocket launchers from North Korea to Russia in 2024.
The report includes images of shipping containers, which the team claims are from North Korean and Russian ports, and an ammunition dump in Russia.
Citing an unnamed team member, the report claimed that North Korea last year transferred at least 100 ballistic missiles to Russia, which were launched into Ukraine “to destroy civilian infrastructure and terrorize populated areas such as Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia." It also transferred “elements of three brigade sets of heavy artillery”.
The report also carries images of a North Korean 170mm self-propelled gun purportedly being transported through Russia and North Korean multiple rocket launcher ammunition and an anti-tank missile found in Ukraine.
The team said in a joint statement that it would continue to monitor the implementation of UN resolutions “and raise awareness of ongoing attempts to violate and evade UN sanctions”.
The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006 and tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions seeking – so far unsuccessfully – to curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
The last sanctions resolution was adopted by the council in December 2017.
China and Russia vetoed a US-sponsored resolution in May 2022 that would have imposed new sanctions following a spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches. The two countries have also blocked all other U N actions against North Korea.