The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on December 20 that Russian forces are using low-quality artillery shells from North Korea, but these shells often have quality defects, sometimes causing damage to artillery and mortars, and even injuring Russian soldiers.
The problem is particularly acute when the Dnieper River cluster under the command of Russian army General General Mikhail Teprin is operating around Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian army.
Due to the lack of ammunition produced by Russia itself, it was forced to use inferior artillery and mortar shells provided by North Korea to attack, but the condition of North Korea's ammunition was not good, which made many shells appear on the battlefield in the breech of the strange phenomenon, resulting in the ** of Russian personnel.
On December 9, Ukrainian military news ** "Defense Express" reported that the Russian army complained about the quality of North Korean artillery shells, alleging that some key parts of artillery shells have signs of disassembly, and there are widespread problems that only pay attention to quantity and do not pay attention to quality. As a result, the effectiveness of the shells may be reduced due to defects, and it will also pose a danger to the Russian army.
On December 23, according to the American "Business Insider" report, North Korea, as one of the few international allies, provided a large amount of ammunition to the Russian army.
According to an estimate by a South Korean lawmaker, the North Korean side sent at least 1 million artillery shells to the Russian army.
Trevor Taylor, a defense expert at the Royal United Services Defence and Security Institute based in London, has previously said he is not sure about the reliable quality of Pyongyang's munitions.
Taylor pointed out that North Korea has a war machine that Europe and the United States do not have, but whether the reliability and safety of their ammunition can meet European standards is another matter.
Ukraine is also worried about a shortage of shells.
At the same time, as Western military aid shows signs of weakening, the outside world is also increasingly worried about the shortage of shells in Ukraine.
According to information provided by the Estonian Ministry of Defense, during the summer**, the Ukrainian army consumes about 7,000 shells per day.
The Kiel Institute, which has been tracking aid that has already been pledged to Ukraine, said in a new report earlier this month that the new U.S. aid to Ukraine has been delayed until next year, and the 1 million artillery shells promised by the European Union have stalled.
In July this year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the DPRK and received a high-level reception from Kim Jong-un, while the DPRK also demonstrated the DPRK's military productivity to the Russian delegation.
Russia's "Independent" newspaper quoted military observer and retired colonel of the Russian army Litovkin as saying that North Korea and Russia contributed to the two countries during Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia, North Korea is likely to provide a large number of artillery shells to the Russian army, including Soviet-made millimeter howitzers, due to the huge reserves of howitzers and mortar shells in North Korea, and even North Korea may provide Russian D-30 howitzers.
Litovkin said that North Korea used millimeter howitzers in the past with the Soviet Union, and that North Korea used to acquire D-30 howitzers from the old Soviet Union;However, it may be difficult for North Korea to provide missiles to the Russian army, mainly because the missiles are technically complex and have Korean written on them, which may be difficult for the Russian military who do not know Korean.
As for the return, Russia may provide North Korean diesel-electric submarines, Pantsir air defense systems, and S-300 surface-to-air missiles, among others.