North Korea Sold Arms to Russia's Wagner Group, U.S. Says - The Moscow Times

North Korea has delivered arms to Russia's backstage subject radical Wagner, the White House said Thursday, calling the mercenary endeavor a "rival" for powerfulness to the defence and different ministries successful the Kremlin.

The United States volition boost sanctions against Wagner pursuing North Korea's merchantability of infantry rockets and missiles to the radical past month, successful usurpation of UN Security Council resolutions, said White House nationalist information spokesperson John Kirby.

"Wagner is searching astir the satellite for arms suppliers to enactment its subject operations successful Ukraine," Kirby told reporters.

"We tin corroborate that North Korea has completed an archetypal arms transportation to Wagner, which paid for that equipment," helium said.

According to Kirby the group, which is autarkic of the Russian defence constitution and is starring a bloody siege of Bakhmut, Ukraine, is spending much than $100 cardinal each period successful its Ukraine operations.

"Wagner is emerging arsenic a rival powerfulness halfway to the Russian subject and different Russian ministries," Kirby said.

'Sign of desperation'

In a connection carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean overseas ministry denied conducting immoderate arms transaction with Russia, saying the communicative was "cooked up by immoderate dishonest forces for antithetic purposes."

However, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the U.K. concurs with the American appraisal that North Korea delivered arms to Russia for the Wagner radical successful usurpation of UN resolutions.

"The information that President (Vladimir) Putin is turning to North Korea for assistance is simply a motion of Russia's desperation and isolation," Cleverly said successful a statement.

"We volition enactment with our partners to guarantee that North Korea pays a precocious terms for supporting Russia's amerciable warfare successful Ukraine."

Close to Putin

The Wagner radical is controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman erstwhile called "Putin's chef" for his enactment catering dinners for the almighty person earlier and aft helium became the Russian president.

A vocal professional of the Russian defence establishment's handling of the warfare successful Ukraine, Prigozhin, 61, runs a fig of divers businesses retired of his Concord Catering radical successful St. Petersburg.

One is the Internet Research Agency, the notorious St. Petersburg net "troll farm" that conducted a monolithic online cognition to interfere with the US elections to assistance then-presidential campaigner Donald Trump successful 2016.

For that Prigozhin and respective others successful the cognition were indicted successful the United States successful 2018.

Just past month, helium boasted of the operation.

"We interfered, we are interfering and we volition interfere," helium said.

He has besides been deed with U.S. and European Union sanctions respective times, peculiarly for Wagner Group activities.

The mercenary-like service has been carrying retired operations — ostensibly backstage but implicitly approved by the Kremlin — successful Syria, Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic and different countries successful Africa. 

In respective locations they person been accused of participating successful atrocities. They person been accused of taking portion with authorities forces successful the massacre of 300 civilians successful Moura, Mali successful March 2022.

In Ukraine, the radical has served arsenic an elite peculiar forces-type cognition that has amended training, instrumentality and supplies than the mainstream Russian military.

Convict recruits sent to front

Prigozhin himself reportedly dubbed the aggravated combat successful Bakhmut a "meat grinder," saying it would destruct the Ukraine army.

But Wagner itself has taken important casualties, and Prigozhin has relied connected prisons to proviso Wagner with convicts to capable retired its ranks.

Kirby estimated that the Wagner unit present numbers astir 50,000, including 10,000 skilled "contractors" and 40,000 convicts.

In Bakhmut and different areas of dense fighting, Ukraine forces accidental the comparatively untrained convicts person been forced to the front, wherever galore person been killed oregon injured.

According to U.S. information, Kirby said, 90 percent of the estimated 1,000 Wagner fighters killed successful the warring successful caller weeks were convicts.

"It seems arsenic though Mr. Prigozhin is consenting to conscionable propulsion Russian bodies into the nutrient grinder successful Bakhmut," helium said. 

Kirby said Prigozhin appeared much funny successful "influence peddling astatine the Kremlin" than protecting his troops.

"For him, it's each astir however bully helium looks to Mr. Putin, and however good he's regarded astatine the Kremlin," Kirby said.