Satellite images show ships linked to Russian and North Korean arms trade in China

It is the British think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) that has followed the Russian ship Angara’s movements in recent months through satellite images.

The images show that the ship has moved thousands of containers to Russian ports since August 2023. It is believed that these may have contained North Korean weapons, writes Reuters.

Now the latest satellite images show that the Angara has been anchored at the Chinese shipyard Zhoushan Xinya in Zhejiang province since February.

The revelation comes at the same time as concern about closer cooperation between Russia and China increases.

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Clear warnings

The US State Service in particular has constantly issued clear warnings about what they claim is China’s help in rebuilding Russia’s military after the heavy losses early in the Ukraine war.

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Washington has repeatedly asked China not to help Russia’s war effort since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Just weeks earlier, Russia and China declared a no-holds-barred partnership.

– When Foreign Minister Blinken meets his Chinese counterparts this week, he will address a number of concerns, including Russia’s war against Ukraine and Russia’s relations with North Korea, says a spokesperson for the US State Department.

The ship’s anchoring may also prove to be a relevant topic during the visit. The spokesperson confirmed that they are aware of the ship’s whereabouts and that they have taken up the matter with the Chinese authorities.

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The shipyard writes on its website that it is China’s largest private shipyard.

RUSI writes that before the Angara arrived in China on 9 February after it had docked at North Korean and Russian ports with its unique automatic identification system (AIS) switched off.

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The AIS transmitter was switched off again shortly after arriving in China.

Oppose sanctions

RUSI has been running a project to monitor North Korea’s sanctions violations. In that regard, they have followed Angara’s movements since it was sanctioned by the United States in May 2022.

The ship has, according to RUSI, carried out at least 11 deliveries between the North Korean port of Rajin and Russian ports from August 2023.

The Chinese embassy in Washington, for its part, says that it is not familiar with the details related to Angara, and that China opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or a mandate from the Security Council.

Earlier this year, several countries stated that the North Korean arms deliveries to Russia openly violate several of the Security Council’s resolutions.

– Probably won’t do anything

Researcher at RUSI, Joseph Byrne, believes that the Chinese authorities should be aware that the sanctioned ship is docked at a port in China.

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– If they let the Angara sail out of the harbor uninspected and recently repaired, it shows that China probably won’t do anything about these Russian ships, says Byrne.

Blinken last week criticized China’s support for Russia’s defense industry, saying Beijing is currently the primary contributor to Moscow’s warfare in Ukraine through its supply of critical components for weapons production.

Both Russia and North Korea have repeatedly rejected criticism for the alleged arms deliveries. Russian authorities say they will cooperate with any country they want and that their cooperation with North Korea does not violate international agreements.