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Russian Ammo Ships Resurface in North Korea as Sanctioned Freighters Resume Suspicious Runs
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Russian cargo ships previously linked to large-scale transfers of North Korean ammunition have once again started arriving at ports in the DPRK, according to new Planet Labs satellite imagery published by NK Pro on November 27.
The vessels Lady R and Angara—both sanctioned by Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union—made three visits in November and two in October to the port of Rason, a city near North Korea’s border with Russia.
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Angara has repeatedly appeared in open-source investigations as a ship involved in transporting military cargo, including containers filled with artillery shells and other munitions destined for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
An analysis by Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi assessed each ship’s container capacity to estimate what five recent voyages could represent.
Combined, Angara and Lady R could theoretically move up to 7,075 containers across five trips:
Angara: ~632 containers per voyage;
Lady R: ~783 containers per voyage;
However, the actual number depends on cargo weight. Angara can carry up to 7,331 tons, while Lady R can take up to 7,630 tons—limits that affect how many ammunition-filled containers can be loaded safely.
Open Source Centre analysts previously documented an extensive logistics network between Russia and North Korea. Between 2023 and 2024, researchers tracked 64 voyages over 20 months, all linked to possible weapons shipments.
During that period, Russian-flagged cargo ships—Angara, Maria, Maia-1 and Lady R—moved an estimated 15,809 containers filled with ammunition and weaponry.
Averaged across all trips, a single ship transported about 247 containers per voyage. Analysts estimate these shipments may have delivered between 4.2 and 5.8 million rounds of ammunition to Russia.
Lady R was owned and operated until December 2024 by MG-FLOT, a sanctioned Russian shipping company formerly known as Transmorflot. The firm is tied to Astrakhan businessman Dzhamaldin Emirmagomedovich Pashayev, who built his operations around the port of Olya in southern Russia.
Earlier, Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, stated that North Korea was supplying Russia with up to 40% of the ammunition it uses in its war against Ukraine.
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