According to an analysis of satellite imagery conducted by the Open Source Centre, a UK-based non-profit research organisation, Russia is believed to have provided North Korea with over a million barrels of oil since March of this year.
This oil supply is a form of payment for the military aid and personnel that Pyongyang has dispatched to support Moscow’s efforts in Ukraine, experts say.
Such transactions contravene UN sanctions, which prohibit nations from selling oil to North Korea in quantities beyond a small allowance, aiming to weaken its economy and hamper its nuclear weapons development.
Satellite images, provided exclusively to the BBC, reveal that over the last eight months, more than a dozen North Korean oil tankers made 43 visits to an oil terminal in Russia’s Far East. Additional photographs captured at sea suggest that the tankers arrived empty and departed nearly full.
North Korea is the only nation globally restricted from purchasing oil on the open market. The United Nations has set a limit on the amount of refined petroleum it can receive at 500,000 barrels per year, significantly below what it requires.
The initial oil transfer recorded by the Open Source Centre in a recent report occurred on March 7, 2024, seven months after reports surfaced indicating that Pyongyang was supplying Moscow with weaponry.
The shipments have persisted as reports indicate that thousands of North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia to engage in combat, with the most recent deployment documented on November 5.
