The Ukraine war is deepening Russia’s ties with North Korea as well as Iran

North Korean arms do get about,” Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told the Guardian, “and there are fairly established routes into Iran. “The Russians are running short in a number of key areas not least 122mm artillery rounds and North Korea has a considerable stockpile of those munitions. It is entirely plausible they are going to Russia and likely going through different routes. “What Russia is trying to do is stabilise its munitions supply through winter to backfill the gap until its own industrial base can start churning out,” adds Watling, adding that Russia arms manufacturers had encountered a serious logjam in the chemical production for high explosives.