PRESS RELEASE : UK condemns North Korea for supplying arms to Russian mercenary group fighting in Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine [December 2022]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 December 2022.

The UK supports the US assessment that North Korea has completed an arms delivery to Russia for the use by the Wagner Group in Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.

Following the US release of information that North Korea has been supplying arms to the Russian mercenary group Wagner, in breach of UN Security Council resolutions, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

The UK supports the US assessment that North Korea has completed an arms delivery to Russia for use by the Wagner Group, which paid for this equipment and has thousands of troops in Ukraine. This is a clear breach of UN Security Council Resolutions. The fact that President Putin is turning to North Korea for help is a sign of Russia’s desperation and isolation. We will work with our partners to ensure that North Korea pays a high price for supporting Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been under UK sanctions since 2020. In November 2022 the UK sanctioned two individuals for conscripting prisoners to the Wagner Group, which has been linked to some of the worst atrocities in Russia’s illegal war.

Background:

President Putin has increasingly turned to Wagner, owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin for military support in Ukraine. Prigozhin is spending more than $100 million per month to fund Wagner’s operations in Ukraine. Wagner is recruiting prisoners, including those with serious medical conditions, to fight in Ukraine.

For months, the Russian military has been relying on Wagner to lead combat operations in parts of the Donbas. In certain instances, Russian military officials are actually subordinate to Wagner’s command. We estimate that Wagner has 50,000 personnel deployed to Ukraine, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts.

Wagner is playing a major role in Bakhmut where its ill-equipped and ill-trained forces are suffering heavy casualties. Approximately 1,000 Wagner fighters have been killed in the fighting in recent weeks, and 90 per cent of those fatalities were convicts. In recent dates, Ukraine appears to have repulsed an offensive by Wagner forces in Bakhmut.