Russia bought millions of artillery shells and missiles from North Korea and is preparing to do so again.
This was said by US intelligence sources quoted by the "New York Times" newspaper.
The information may be an indirect confirmation of the high consumption of ammunition by the Russians, whose warehouses have been massively destroyed.
Moscow turned to the Kim regime - writes Corriere della Sera - after knocking on China's door.
Beijing is willing to help economically, but apparently does not want to get involved in the issue between the two militaries, except for some technical support and participation in the joint exercises currently taking place.
The Russians then turned to anyone who had compatible arsenals. The Koreans, who have been preparing for a conflict for years, have developed a massive artillery component to meet the demands for medium- and long-range weapons that have been used intensively in recent months. But not only.
It has also been speculated that in the future groups of workers from the Asian country may work in Donbas.
At the moment, it is a project announced by the pro-Russians for propaganda purposes.
Russia is also said to have received hundreds of attack drones from Iran, another partner poised to fill a void following the widespread use of domestically designed aircraft.
As war operations intensified in the east and in the Kherson sector, observers analyzed the availability of stocks.
The prevailing view was that the invaders had good pre-war reserves and could maintain a high rate of fire, higher than that of the Ukrainians.
At least for a few months. Then the industry had to step in to fill the gaps but doubts arose about the production capacity.
And the move toward Kim Jong Un — if true — would be a sign of suffering in the industrial chain.
Or is afraid it will be. Moreover, the same problem concerns Kiev, which had to rely on supplies gathered with the help of the West (for example, Pakistan and other countries have guaranteed heavy ammunition) and there were episodes of weak bombs, troubles also denounced by the Russians.
In addition, there is great concern in the US about not having enough material to store to meet the needs of the Pentagon and Ukraine.
Bureaucracy, technical time, lack of coordination are unsolved obstacles. The movements of the contenders, in parallel with those of their supporters, unfortunately confirm that we are preparing for a very long conflict, where there is a lot of shooting on the battlefield and in the field of propaganda. With accusations, counter-accusations, revelations, omissions, true or not.