The Russian ship has completed at least eleven transports between ports in North Korea and Russia since August 2023, according to the British think tank Rusi.
Satellite images according to China will allow a Russian cargo ship subject to US sanctions to stop in its ports. The ship is suspected of transporting weapons from North Korea to Russia, reports the Reuters news agency.
According to the British think tank Rusi, the ship shown in the pictures is the Russian Angara. Since August 2023, the ship has been carrying thousands of containers believed to have contained North Korean munitions.
The same vessel has been seen since February in satellite images at China’s Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Telakka says on its website that it is China’s largest private ship repair company.
good was identified by its transponder of the AIS system, which shares navigation and identification information, which had been switched on for a moment, probably for safety reasons, as it moved through a busy area in the Korean Strait towards China.
Rusi said that before the Angara arrived in China on February 9 for repairs or maintenance, it had docked in ports in North Korea and Russia in January with its transponder turned off. It stopped shipping again shortly after arriving in China.
The United States imposed sanctions on the ship in May 2022. Since August 2023, it had carried out at least eleven transports between North Korean and Russian ports, says Rusi, who has followed the ship’s movements through open source data.
of the United States a foreign ministry spokesman said he was aware of “credible open source information” that the Angara is currently in a Chinese port and had raised the matter with the Chinese authorities.
China’s support for Russia is believed to be at the top of the agenda for the US Secretary of State Antony Blinkenin On a visit to Beijing this week. The United States has repeatedly appealed to China not to support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
China’s embassy in Washington said it was not aware of the details of Angara, but that China “opposes unilateral sanctions”. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also announced that it had no information on the matter. The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard did not respond to Reuters’ inquiries on the matter.
Ukrainian partner countries have tried to suppress military and economic support to Russia with sanctions. Russia is the beginning of the year used in Ukraine North Korean missiles.
Previously a gunship named Lady R has been seen in satellite imageswhich has appeared to be moving between North Korea and Russia.