According to a report by the Financial Times and UK think-tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), satellite images revealed that at least five North Korean tankers traveled to Vostochny Port in Russia's Far East this month to collect oil products.
RUSI shared the images, indicating the shipments began on March 7, marking the first documented direct seaborne deliveries from Russia since the UN Security Council imposed strict oil transfer caps in 2017 in response to North Korea's nuclear tests.
"These oil deliveries constitute a full-frontal assault against the sanctions regime, which is now on the brink of collapse," said Hugh Griffiths, a former UN sanctions coordinator, as quoted by the Financial Times.
The vessels, all North Korean-flagged oil products tankers, visited the same dock operated by a Russian oil company at Vostochny Port, where they loaded oil products before two ships traveled to the North Korean port of Chongjin to unload. Joseph Byrne, a research fellow at RUSI, noted, "The vessels we've seen at Russian terminals are some of the largest-capacity vessels in North Korea's fleet."
The deliveries follow North Korea's shipments of munitions to Russia last August, contributing significantly to Moscow's military operations in Ukraine. Vostochny Port has also been implicated as a hub for Russian ships engaged in arms trade with North Korea.
The vessels made their journeys to Vostochny Port with their transponders switched off, with one vessel, the Paek Yang San 1, previously engaging in illicit ship-to-ship oil transfers to circumvent import caps set by the UN, FT reported.
RUSI researchers estimated the oil deliveries could exceed 125,000 barrels, a quarter of the permitted annual quota, in just weeks.
Direct oil supplies from Russia would stabilize North Korea's economy, potentially freeing up resources for its military and nuclear programs, FT quoted Go Myong-hyun, a senior research fellow at South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy, as saying.
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Source: PAP, Financial Times