Russia has supplied North Korea with over 1 million barrels of oil in exchange for military aid since March – BBC

Russia has supplied North Korea with over a million barrels (56,000 tonnes) of oil since March 2024, likely in payment for military support.

Source: BBC, citing data from the UK-based Open Source Centre

Details: Based on the Open Source Centre's analysis of satellite images, North Korean tankers made 43 voyages between a Russian oil terminal in the Far East and North Korean ports between March and November 2024. All vessels arrived in Russia empty and returned loaded with oil.

Prominent experts and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the BBC that they believed that with this oil, Moscow was paying Pyongyang for weapons and soldiers that North Korea is using to help Russia fight against Ukraine.

The first documented shipment took place on 7 March, seven months after the first reports of North Korean ammunition shipments to Russia, and the last one on 5 November.

"This steady flow of oil gives North Korea a level of stability it hasn’t had since these sanctions were introduced," said Joe Byrne, senior analyst at the Open Source Centre.

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