It is highly unlikely North Korea would have provided Ukraine with weapons as it has been supportive of the Russian invasion.Įarlier this week, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. The US has accused North Korea of handing over weapons to Russia, but has not produced proof of this and North Korean weapons have not been widely seen on the battlefield in Ukraine.īoth Pyongyang and Moscow have denied they are involved in arms transactions. 'Russia has been shopping around for different types of munitions in all kinds of tyrannies, including North Korea and Iran,' he added. 'We capture their tanks, we capture their equipment and it is very possible that this is also the result of the Ukrainian army successfully conducting a military operation,' Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's defence minister, told the FT. Meanwhile, Ukraine's defence ministry suggested the arms were captured from Russian forces. It said the weapons were used by Ukrainian soldiers operating Soviet-era Grad multiple-launch rocket systems near the eastern city of Bakhmut. The troops said the North Korean rockets were seized by a 'friendly' country before being delivered to Ukraine, the Financial Times has reported. You can read more about Wagner's role in the CAR below. Wagner's role in the CAR and elsewhere is Africa has been a source of concern for Western governments. Russian mercenaries, including many from Wagner, intervened in the Central African Republic in 2018 on the side of the government to quell a civil war. Wagner has played a key role in the war in Ukraine, and has also had a presence in Africa for years - where it has been repeatedly accused of committing war crimes. He said Wagner was fulfilling all its obligations on the continent and was ready to further develop relations with African countries. The telephone interview was posted on YouTube but its veracity cannot be immediately verified.Ī voice that appeared to be Prigozhin's could be heard under a French translation. Prigozhin's whereabouts since he led a short-lived mutiny against the Russian military has been largely under wraps.įootage emerged of him addressing his troops in Belarus last week, and this week he was pictured at a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg. 'We aren't reducing, moreover we're ready to increase our various contingents,' Prigozhin told Cameroon-based Afrique Media.

In what appears to be Yevgeny Prigozhin's first interview since leading an aborted mutiny, the Wagner chief told an African news outlet his mercenary group is ready to increase its presence in Africa.

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