North Korea offered Wagner Group mercenaries rockets and missiles for Ukraine

• North Korea sent rockets and missiles to the Wagner Group for use in Ukraine.
• Yevgeny Prigozhin has close relations to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Wagner’s mercenary force has 50,000 fighters in Ukraine.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said North Korea sent rockets and missiles to the Wagner Group for use in Ukraine.

North Korea has delivered initial arms to Wagner, which paid for them. North Korea sent rockets and missiles to Russia for Wagner last month, he added.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, creator of Wagner Group, has close relations to Russian President Vladimir Putin and gained the nickname “Putin’s chef” after catering for the military and other institutions. Wagner’s mercenary force has 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and is “developing as a competing power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries,” Kirby said. In some circumstances, Russian troops are subject to Wagner leaders.

Wagner’s ill-equipped and ill-trained forces are suffering huge casualties. Kirby said Mr. Prigozhin seems eager to grind up Russian bodies in Bakhmut.

The group’s mercenaries have been involved in fierce battle in Bakhmut, where 1,000 fighters have died in recent weeks.

Kirby said Wagner has turned to convicts to recruit fighters, with Prigozhin himself visiting Russian jails. He estimates that 40,000 Wagner troops in Ukraine are prisoners.

While the U.S. does not believe the materiel given to Wagner will affect fighting dynamics in Ukraine, “we are concerned that North Korea plans to deliver more military supplies,” he added.

Kirby told reporters last month that Pyongyang is discreetly supplying a “substantial number” of artillery shells to Russia for use in Ukraine. He said the North Koreans are trying to conceal the destination of the shipments by routing them through the Middle East and North Africa. No cargoes had been received, he said. Kirby said Thursday the cargo was likely reaching Wagner.

Wagner was declared a military end user this week, making it harder for it to buy U.S.-made equipment. The U.S. is seeking to stop Wagner by cutting off its supply sources. Kirby predicts additional Wagner Group sanctions in the coming days.

U.S., EU, and UK have sanctioned Prighozin.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said, “The U.K. shares the U.S. assessment that North Korea has completed an arms consignment to Russia for use by the Wagner Group, which paid for this weaponry and has thousands of troops in Ukraine.” This violates UNSC resolutions. Putin’s reliance on North Korea shows Russia’s desperation and isolation.

Wagner spends $100 million every month on Ukraine.

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