James Byrne

A North Korean vessel known for violating international sanctions recently made a rare cargo delivery to a seaport in the Russian Far East, a joint investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has found. “This voyage is unusual and appears to be one of the first open visits by a North Korean vessel to a Russian port in a significant period of time, indicating an increasing trade relationship between Russia and the DPRK,“ Joseph Byrne, a research analyst at RUSI, told NK Pro.

James Byrne, Royal United Services Institute: I don't believe there has been any such action. We did have huge fines on some of the large financial institutions. And they were ultimately for essentially practices, failures in due diligence. So it's certainly a possibility that something like this could happen, particularly if it's — if it continues or if it emerges that some companies really didn't follow any sort of due diligence.

Russia’s sourcing of equipment, like the UAV drones from Iran, “underscores the challenges” the country is having “replacing equipment lost or expended since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” according to RUSI researchers.