According to satellite imagery analysis by the Open Source Centre, a non-profit research group located in the United Kingdom, Russia is believed to have provided North Korea with more than a million barrels of oil since March of this year.
Leading analysts including UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy have informed journalists that the oil is money for Pyongyang's weaponry and personnel supplied to Moscow to fuel its war in Ukraine.
These transfers violate UN sanctions, which prohibit countries from supplying oil to North Korea, save in limited quantities, in an effort to cripple its economy and prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
North Korea is the only country in the world not allowed to buy oil on the open market.
The number of barrels of refined petroleum it can receive is capped by the United Nations at 500,000 annually, well below the amount it needs.
Russia's foreign ministry did not respond to our request for comment.
The first oil transfer documented by the Open Source Centre in a new report, was on 7 March 2024, seven months after it first emerged Pyongyang was sending Moscow weapons.
The shipments have continued as thousands of North Korean troops are reported to have been sent to Russia to fight, with the last one recorded on 5 November.
"While Kim Jong Un is providing Vladimir Putin with a lifeline to continue his war, Russia is quietly providing North Korea with a lifeline of its own," says Joe Byrne from the Open Source Centre.
Four former members of a UN panel responsible for tracking the sanctions on North Korea reported that the transfers are a consequence of increasing ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said "To keep fighting in Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly reliant on North Korea for troops and weapons in exchange for oil."
He added that this was "having a direct impact on security in the Korean peninsula, Europe and Indo-Pacific".
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