SEOUL, May 30 (UPI) -- Military cooperation between North Korea and Russia has enabled Moscow to increase its missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, the United States, South Korea and nine other allies said in a new report.
The report, released Thursday, was the first produced by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group formed in October after Russia vetoed the mandate for a U.N. panel to continue its work overseeing North Korean sanctions violations.
The MSMT collected evidence that North Korea and Russia "engaged in myriad of unlawful activities" in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the 29-page report. These violations include transfers of artillery, missiles and combat vehicles from North Korea to Russia for its war against Ukraine.
In return, North Korea has received air defense systems and technical weapons expertise from Russia. The MSMT also found that Moscow has supplied shipments of refined petroleum products far in excess of a yearly cap under U.N. sanctions and maintained banking relations with Pyongyang.
These forms of unlawful cooperation have "contributed to Moscow's ability to increase its missile attacks against Ukrainian cities including targeted strikes against critical civilian infrastructure," the report said.
