Seoul: North Korea has continued to provide Russia with artillery shells to support its war against Ukraine, which amounts to more than 12 million rounds of 152 mm shells, according to South Korea's military intelligence authorities Sunday. 

North Korea is believed to have provided around 28,000 containers containing weapons and artillery shells to date, according to a report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) submitted to a lawmaker of the main opposition party.

"If calculated with 152 mm single shells, the number of supplied shells are presumed to have reached more than 12 million," the DIA under the defence ministry said.

Since October last year, North Korea has provided conventional weapons and around 13,000 troops to Russia to support Moscow's war efforts.

North Korea is likely to send additional troops to Russia in July or August, Seoul's spy agency said in late June. Russia's media reported that the North will send 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Kursk to support reconstruction efforts.

On June 26, after Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang and met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un early last week, Russian media reported that Pyongyang plans to send thousands of military construction workers to Russia's Kursk front line.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) also noted that North Korea has supported Russia by providing over 10 million artillery shells, missiles and long-range weapons, in exchange for economic cooperation and technical support from Moscow.

North Korea's troop dispatch and weapons support have significantly contributed to Russia's war efforts, the NIS said, adding that Russia currently controls about 81 per cent of the four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Luhansk.

The NIS also said Ukrainian intelligence authorities are raising the possibility that Russia may launch an offensive between July and August.

Regarding the then situation in the Middle East, the NIS had issued warnings of the potential for renewed conflict between Israel and Iran despite the ceasefire.

(IANS)