According to the publication, oil deliveries began on March 7 - these are the first documented deliveries since the introduction of UN sanctions.

According to satellite images, in March, at least five North Korean tankers with oil products left the Russian port of Vishkodny in the Far East.

Then the two ships went to the North Korean port of Changjin, where they probably unloaded, writes the Financial Times.

According to Joseph Byrne

, a researcher at the Royal Joint Defense Research Institute (RUSI)

, some of these ships are on the UN list, which means they cannot even enter foreign ports.

"These oil shipments represent a full-scale attack on the sanctions regime, which is now on the verge of collapse," said

Hugh Griffiths

, ex-coordinator of the UN North Korea sanctions group.

As noted by the Financial Times, in August of last year, North Korea began supplying Russia with ammunition that Russia used in the war with Ukraine.

According to RUSI, the port of Vostochny was also used as a transshipment point for Russian ships, which were allegedly involved in the supply of weapons.

"What we see now is a clear arms-for-oil barter arrangement that openly violates the sanctions that Vladimir Putin personally signed," said Hugh Griffiths.

According to the newspaper, the press secretary of the Kremlin

Dmitriy Peskov

refused to comment.

  • In February, The New York Times reported that Russia, in exchange for ammunition, allowed the DPRK to gain access to the global financial system, and also unblocked some North Korean assets that were under UN sanctions.

    In addition, sources say that Moscow allowed Pyongyang to open a bank account on the territory of the partially recognized South Ossetia.

    Georgia considers this territory occupied by Russia.

  • In October 2023, White House National Security Adviser John Kirby said that North Korea had given Russia a batch of weapons.

    The White House has released a photo it claims shows a shipment of ammunition from a North Korean warehouse.

    The weapons were loaded onto a vessel under the Russian flag and sent to a warehouse on the southwestern border of Russia.

  • Seven member states of the UN Security Council accused Russia of violating the embargo on military-technical cooperation with Pyongyang.