Ukraine War: Russian Train Collects North Korean Weapons for Wagner Mercenaries, According to the US | world News

[ad_1]

The United States says North Korea will continue to supply weapons to Wagner Group mercenaries in Ukraine – having released a photo it said showed a shipment of rockets and missiles being assembled.

North Korea has previously denied the allegations, as has Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, who described it last month as “gossip and speculation”.

The White House said a satellite image taken on November 18 showed a Russian train traveling to North Korea to collect weapons.

Ukraine’s last war: the West failed to decide whether to send tanks to Ukraine

“On November 19, North Korea loaded the railroad cars with freight containers, and the train returned to Russia,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

“While we estimate that the amount of material delivered to Wagner has not altered the dynamics of the battlefield in Ukraine, we anticipate that it will continue to receive North Korean weapons systems,” he said.

Kirby added that tougher sanctions will be imposed on the Wagner Group and its global support network next week when the United States declares it a transnational criminal organization (TCO).

Photo: Wagner Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia

This will freeze any assets he has in the United States and prevent Americans from providing funds, goods or services.

Read more: The Wagner Group suffers huge losses as its boss steps out of the spotlight

Mr. Kirby said: “With these actions, and more to come, our message to any company considering providing support to Wagner is – Wagner is a criminal organization that commits atrocities and human rights abuses on a massive scale, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, detect and target those who assist Wagner.” .

He estimated that the private security company has about 50,000 personnel fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine – 40,000 of them are registered convicts from Russian prisons.

Image: Graves of Wagner mercenaries at the Southern Russian Cemetery

It has been particularly active in the fighting at Bakhmut and Solidar in eastern Ukraine and the White House is increasingly concerned about its involvement.

Kirby added that the Russian Defense Ministry also has reservations about Wagner’s recruitment strategy, but the United States believes it will continue to recruit prisoners.

Sky News visited a Wagner mercenary cemetery in southern Russia and saw row after row of identical fresh graves – an indication of the deaths plaguing the group. Ukraine says thousands have died.

[ad_2]