Russia and North Korea are violating UN sanctions in Ukraine, Western allies report says

The findings follow Russia’s 2024 veto of continued UN monitoring and include images of North Korean arms found in Ukraine.

Western allies have accused Russia and North Korea of flagrantly breaching UN sanctions through close military cooperation that has enabled Moscow to intensify its missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, as its all-out war continues into its fourth year.The joint condemnation was part of the first report issued by the newly formed Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, which has been tasked with tracking Pyongyang's sanctions violations since last year. The 29-page document, compiled by the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand, asserts that Pyongyang and Moscow have carried out many “unlawful activities” prohibited by existing UN resolutions.North Korea has supplied Russia with weapons and military equipment, including ballistic missiles, artillery shells and armoured vehicles for use in Moscow's war against Ukraine, according to the report.  Citing intelligence from an unnamed country, the monitoring team said that as many as nine million artillery and rocket rounds were delivered from North Korea to Russia last year in Russian-flagged cargo ships. It also confirmed the transfer of at least 100 ballistic missiles, which were launched into Ukraine “to destroy civilian infrastructure and terrorise populated areas such as Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia". Photographic evidence in the report shows ammunition containers, artillery systems and anti-tank weapons believed to have been manufactured in North Korea and recovered in Ukraine.Pyongyang's support has “contributed to Moscow’s ability to increase its missile attacks against Ukrainian cities including targeted strikes against critical civilian infrastructure", the coalition said.The report further states that more than 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia since October 2024, gaining battlefield experience while supporting Russia’s war effort. In return for such help, Russia is said to have transferred air defence systems to North Korea, trained its troops and provided petroleum products far beyond the UN-mandated cap.The monitoring team, which urged Pyongyang to “engage in meaningful diplomacy", warned that both countries appear intent on deepening their military alliance.UN sanctions against North Korea began in 2006 following its first nuclear test, and were expanded through a series of resolutions aimed at restricting funding for its weapons programmes. The last such resolution was adopted in 2017. Since then, Russia and China have blocked further action, including a 2022 US-led push to impose new sanctions in response to North Korea’s missile launches.