Latest news with #Budanov
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
North Korea continues to bolster Russia's war efforts with artillery supply
North Korea has continued to supply millions of artillery shells and other munitions to Russia since the start of Moscow's war in Ukraine, according to military data submitted to a South Korean lawmaker. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pyongyang last week, saying North Korea has affirmed its 'clear support'.(AP) Pyongyang is believed to have shipped more than 28,000 containers loaded with artillery shells and other munitions to Russia, South Korea's Defense Intelligence Agency said in response to an inquiry from lawmaker Kang Daeshik. The shipments are estimated to exceed about 12 million rounds when converted into 152-millimeter (6 inch) artillery shells, the DIA said. 'North Korea is continuing to supply weapons to Russia,' the agency said in a statement to Kang. 'Our military is constantly reassessing the scale of North Korea's weapons support to Russia in coordination with relevant agencies and allied nations.' Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, North Korea has expanded its support beyond artillery shells to include missiles, self-propelled guns, and even combat personnel, reports said. North Korea is now supplying as much as 40% of Russia's ammunition needs for the war, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence, told Bloomberg News in an interview. Kim Jong Un's regime is also sending other weapons, including ballistic missiles and artillery systems, Budanov said, adding that they are 'good weapons.' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pyongyang last week, saying North Korea has affirmed its 'clear support' for Russia's war in Ukraine and for the Kremlin's leadership. In return, Russia is providing money and technology to North Korea, helping to ease Pyongyang's international isolation, according to Budanov.
Miami Herald
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Ukraine spy chief says 40% of Russian ammunition is North Korean
North Korea is now supplying as much as 40% of Russia's ammunition for the war in Ukraine as the partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow deepens, according to the head of Ukrainian military intelligence. Kim Jong Un's regime is also sending other weapons to Russia, including ballistic missiles and artillery systems, Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Russia is providing money and technology to North Korea in return, helping to ease Pyongyang's international isolation, he said. "Those are good weapons," Budanov, who attributed 60% of losses in military-intelligence units in the past three months to strikes by North Korean-made artillery, said in his office in Kyiv. "North Korea has huge stockpiles and production goes on around the clock." Russia has intensified military ties with North Korea since President Vladimir Putin signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty with Kim in June last year, his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years. North Korea sent thousands of troops to help Moscow push Ukrainian forces out of territory they'd seized in Russia's Kursk region. With Kim vowing to back Russia "unconditionally" in the war, western intelligence estimates that Pyongyang has sent millions of artillery rounds to Putin's army. Bloomberg News could not independently verify Budanov's assessment of Russia's weapons stockpile from North Korea. A series of top Russian officials have traveled to North Korea. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to begin a three-day trip to Pyongyang on Friday, while Putin's top security council aide, Sergei Shoigu, visited North Korea for the third time in as many months in June. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a resumption of weapons supplies to Ukraine, including vital air defenses, that were unexpectedly interrupted last week. He accused Putin of "killing too many people" and said the Russian leader's engagement with U.S. calls for a truce was "meaningless." Budanov said U.S. support for Ukraine will continue "in the near future" and Washington may send additional air-defense systems. Trump's "position is consistent, one should not judge him by media characteristics," Budanov said. "As head of a special service I know more things." While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to U.S. calls for an unconditional ceasefire, Putin told Trump in a phone call last week that Russia "will not back down" on its war aims, according to a Kremlin transcript. Budanov said a ceasefire must be reached as soon as possible and well before the end of this year. "Is it realistic to do so - yes. Is it difficult - no," he said. "It takes at least three sides - Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. And we will get to this position." Russia has stepped up air attacks on Ukraine including with record numbers of drones in recent weeks. It launched 728 drones on July 9, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure, while the United Nations reported that June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured. "Civilians across Ukraine are facing levels of suffering we have not seen in over three years," Danielle Bell, the head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said Thursday. "The surge in long-range missile and drone strikes across the country has brought even more death and destruction." Russia's grinding battlefield assaults in Ukraine have also picked up speed again in the war, now in its fourth year. Kremlin forces entered Ukraine's northeast Sumy region bordering Russia last month in an attempt to create a buffer zone. They made marginal advances in the partly-occupied Donetsk region in the east and in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. The Russian army is also attempting to cross into the central Dnipropetrovsk region next to Donetsk. "It's not realistic for Russia to seize all of the Donetsk region by the end of the year," Budanov said. Russian troops "have a political goal to declare that they entered" Dnipropetrovsk region and are tasked with setting up another buffer zone of as much as 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in depth, he said. Dressed in black military fatigues, 39-year-old Budanov has earned a reputation for planning bold operations to strike at Russian forces - and even participating in them personally. He joined Ukraine's military intelligence in 2007, fought in the country's east after Russia incited separatist conflict there in 2014 and took part in operations in occupied Crimea. Budanov was wounded three times in fighting. He has also been the target of Kremlin-backed poisoning attempts, according to Ukrainian intelligence officials, while his wife Marianna survived a poisoning in November that some officials blamed on Russia. The military intelligence chief has become one of the most popular public figures in Ukraine, ranked among the three most trusted officials, opinion polls show. A Rating Group poll from July 4-5 showed 56% of Ukrainians trust him, compared with 67% for Zelenskyy and 73% for former top military commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Budanov will mark five years as head of military intelligence next month, "if I survive," he said. Asked to explain, he said "anything can happen" and referred to a memorial at the agency to intelligence officers killed in the line of duty. There is much space for more names, he said. The black flag of Ukraine's military intelligence agency hangs from a pole in his office, which is also decorated with models of Russian ships sunk in operations masterminded by his agents. Budanov described intelligence cooperation with western counterparts as "excellent," adding that he expects exchanges of information to continue. Ukraine depends on the U.S. for the early warning of missile launches and access to satellite imagery, he said. "I don't see any signs our cooperation in the security services will stop," Budanov said. "This is not beneficial for us and not beneficial for our partners either, because they get information from us." Budanov even urged allies to return to relying on human intelligence - networks of spies - that he said "almost all European countries have buried, unfortunately." He added: "Stop believing that technical intelligence will solve everything. No one will discuss and plan an operation on a mobile phone." He said he hopes to remain in his post until the war ends. "Now, my dream is to stop this war," Budanov said. "Ukraine is a country of opportunities. In future, I'll decide what I would like to do." -------- -With assistance from Maxim Edwards. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Mint
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Ukraine spy chief claims North Korea supplying 40% of Russia's ammunition for war
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, has claimed that North Korea is now supplying as much as 40 per cent of Russia's ammunition for the war in Ukraine. This deepening partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow involves the exchange of ballistic missiles and artillery systems from North Korea in return for money and technology from Russia. Bloomberg reported that military ties between Russia and North Korea have intensified since President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty in June last year. The alliance has reportedly led to North Korea sending thousands of troops and millions of artillery rounds to assist Putin's army in pushing Ukrainian forces out of territory they'd seized in Russia's Kursk region. Kim has also vowed to back Russia 'unconditionally' in the war, the news agency reported. Amidst these developments, US President Donald Trump has ordered a resumption of weapons supplies to Ukraine, including vital air defences. He accused Putin of 'killing too many people' and said the Russian leader's engagement with the US calls for a truce was 'meaningless.' Budanov expressed confidence in continued US support and potential for additional air-defence systems. During talks of a ceasefire, Putin told Trump in a phone call last week that Russia 'will not back down' on its war aims. Budanov said a ceasefire must be reached as soon as possible and well before the end of this year, weighing the chances, 'Is it realistic to do so - yes. Is it difficult - no,' he said. He also emphasised that 'It takes at least three sides - Ukraine, Russia and the US. And we will get to this position.' Russia has already attacked Ukraine with record numbers of drones in recent weeks. It launched 728 drones on 9 July, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure. In view of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United Nations noted that June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured. 'Civilians across Ukraine are facing levels of suffering we have not seen in over three years,' Danielle Bell, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said Thursday. 'The surge in long-range missile and drone strikes across the country has brought even more death and destruction.' However, Budanov remains hopeful; he has decided to remain in his post until the war ends. 'Now, my dream is to stop this war,' Bloomberg reported. Budanov said, 'Ukraine is a country of opportunities. In future, I'll decide what I would like to do.'
Russia Today
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Zelensky makes new threats against Russia
Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky has suggested that Kiev's forces will conduct more long-range strikes targeting facilities deep inside Russian territory. Ukraine has significantly escalated drone attacks deep into Russia in recent weeks, despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the actions as an attempt to derail the peace process. In a post on his Telegram channel on Sunday, Zelensky wrote that he had held a meeting with the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, claiming that Kiev was keeping tabs on Russia's 'main pain points.' He pledged to 'strike appropriate blows' with a view to 'significantly reducing' Moscow's military potential. Zelensky also stated that Kiev was sharing its intelligence on Russia with its Western backers, with which it is 'preparing joint defense solutions.' Speaking to reporters also on Sunday, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Aleksandr Syrsky, similarly said that Kiev 'will increase the scale and depth' of its strikes on Russian military facilities deep inside the country. On June 1, Ukrainian intelligence conducted a coordinated attack on several Russian airbases across five regions, from Murmansk in the Arctic, to Irkutsk in Siberia. Ukrainian media later reported that the operation codenamed 'Spiderweb' involved dozens of first-person view (PFV) kamikaze drones. At least some of them were reportedly launched in close proximity to the targets, from commercial trucks that had been covertly brought into Russia. The strikes were said to have been prepared for more than a year and a half and focused on Russia's 'strategic aviation.' The Defense Ministry in Moscow said that a number of aircraft in Murmansk and Irkutsk regions had caught fire as a result of the attack. Kiev claimed that the strikes had damaged or destroyed approximately 40 Russian military aircraft, including Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range bombers. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov later dismissed these estimates as incorrect. 'The equipment in question… was not destroyed, but damaged. It will be restored,' the diplomat told TASS in early June. Around the same time, Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, cautioned that 'when you attack an opponent's part of their national survival system, which is their nuclear triad… that means your risk level goes up because you don't know what the other side's going to do.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia fires North Korean ballistic missiles in 'extremely dangerous' threat to Europe and Asia: Zelenskyy
North Korean ballistic missiles once again rained down over Ukraine this week as the war with Russia continues to rage, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to renew warnings that the threat posed by the Moscow-Pyongyang alliance is "extremely dangerous" for Europe and Asia alike. "The longer this war continues on our territory, the more warfare technologies evolve, and the greater the threat will be to everyone," Zelenskyy said Tuesday. "This must be addressed now, not when thousands of upgraded Shahed drones and ballistic missiles begin to threaten Seoul and Tokyo." Zelenskyy's warning came just one day after Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, confirmed in an interview with The War Zone that Russia has significantly improved North Korea's KN-23 ballistic missiles. Zelenskyy Dismisses Trump's Claim That Russia Wants Peace, Says He Knows Putin 'Much Better' Earlier this year, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team – a U.N.-member group that includes the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea – confirmed late last month that Pyongyang not only supplied Moscow with more than 11,000 troops beginning last October, but also 9 million rounds of mixed artillery and multiple rocket launcher ammunition, a slew of weapons systems, and at least 100 ballistic missiles last year alone. In May 2024, Ukrainian authorities reported that at least half of the North Korean-supplied ballistic missiles fired by Russia were missing their targets by malfunctioning and even exploding in midair. Read On The Fox News App On Monday, Budanov said the missiles are now hitting Ukrainian targets with "deadly accuracy" – an improvement that appears to have arisen following a June 2024 mutual defense pact between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Russia Launches Biggest Drone Barrage Of The Ukraine War, Kyiv Says Top Ukrainian officials are sounding the alarm that there is a clear exchange of North Korean troops and supplies for Russian technical knowhow – including developments it has learned from Iranian drone manufacturing. "We are also tracking evidence that Russian-Iranian drone technologies have spread to North Korea," Zelenskyy said Tuesday. "This is extremely dangerous both for Europe and for East and Southeast Asia." Similarly, Budanov said Pyongyang has agreed to produce Russian UVAs on North Korean territory utilizing developments in drone warfare that Moscow has obtained through Iran and its steady supply of Shahed drones. "It will for sure bring changes in the military balance in the region between North Korea and South Korea," the intelligence chief warned on Monday. But North Korea's increased knowledge of drone development and ballistic missiles could have far deadlier consequences when it comes to the nuclear-armed, anti-Western nation. "Unfortunately, ballistic missiles… are carriers of nuclear payloads," Budanov pointed out. But when asked if Moscow is aiding North Korea's nuclear program, the intelligence chief said, "Let's say they had huge problems with the carriers of these missiles and the firing from their sea component. And Russians are helping them with this."Original article source: Russia fires North Korean ballistic missiles in 'extremely dangerous' threat to Europe and Asia: Zelenskyy
