According to the spokesman for the National Security Council, North Korea supplied the private Russian security service with missiles “for use by the infantry”, the USA claims. Wagner boss Prigoshin, on the other hand, speaks of “gossip”.
The Russian mercenary group Wagner has weapons off, according to US information North Korea received for an assignment in the Ukraine. The spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirbyconfirmed a corresponding report from the news agency on Thursday Archyde.com, which had referred to US government circles. Accordingly delivered North Korea last month “missiles for infantry use,” according to a senior insider.
The amount of material delivered was not sufficient to change the course of the war in Ukraine. “However, we are concerned about plans North Korea’sto deliver more war material to Wagner,” it said. Kirby also confirmed this assessment and said, North Korea violated UN sanctions with the deliveries.
The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, dismissed the US account as “gossip and speculation” in the evening. “Everyone knows that North Korea has long stopped supplying weapons to Russia,” the president’s ally said in a statement Wladimir Putin. “There has never been such an effort.”
Wagner group involved in battles for Bachmut
According to the insider, President Vladimir Putin is increasingly turning to the Wagner Group, owned by his ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, over the military difficulties in Ukraine. He spends more than 100 million dollars a month to finance their use in Ukraine. These are 50,000 fighters, consisting of 10,000 mercenaries and 40,000 recruits from Russian prisons. In the past few weeks, Wagner has suffered heavy losses of around 1,000 fighters in the fighting for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The group played an important role there.
Inside Russia, Prigozhin’s influence is growing, the insider said, citing US intelligence information. Wagner is increasingly acting independently of the Russian Ministry of Defense. “For months, the Russian military has relied on Wagner to direct fighting in parts of the Donbass,” it said. In certain cases, Russian military are under the command of Wagner. “It is evident that Wagner is becoming a rival center of power for the Russian military and other Russian ministries.” The US information could not be independently verified, statements from Russia and North Korea were initially not available.
(APA/Archyde.com)