Russia has supplied North Korea with more than a million barrels of oil since March this year, according to new research.
Detailed satellite imagery analysis from the Open Source Centre, a non-profit research group based in the UK, revealed the huge ongoing supply chain between Moscow and Pyongyang.
The images show more than a dozen different North Korean oil tankers arriving at an oil terminal in Russia’s Far East a total of 43 times over the past eight months.
Further pictures, taken of the ships at sea, appear to show the tankers arriving empty, and leaving almost full.
The first oil transfer documented by the Open Source Centre in a new report, was on March, 7, 2024, seven months after it first emerged Pyongyang was sending Moscow weapons.
The supplies reflect the growing relationship between Vladimir Putin and “dear friend” Kim Jong Un.
“This steady flow of oil gives North Korea a level of stability it hasn’t had since these sanctions were introduced.”
North Korea is the only country in the world not allowed to buy oil on the open market. The number of barrels of refined petroleum it can receive is capped by the United Nations at 500,000 annually, well below the amount it needs.
He added that this was “having a direct impact on security in the Korean peninsula, Europe and Indo-Pacific”.
“The vessels appear silently, almost every week,” said Mr Byrne, the researcher from the Open Source Centre. “Since March there’s been a fairly constant flow.”
