Putin's aviation squad turns out to be involved in supply of North Korean missiles to russia

Sanctions imposed by the US on January 11 against three russian organizations, three aircraft and one individual were explained by Washington as the involvement of these figures in the transfer of North Korean-made ballistic missiles to the terrorist country of russia.

"The United States continues to closely monitor any support provided by russia to the DPRK in exchange for these weapons, and will use all available tools to identify and publicize the individuals and entities involved in arms transfers between the DPRK and russia. We will not hesitate to further measures," US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said.

According to him, the transfer of North Korean ballistic missiles to russia "supports russian military aggression, increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, and undermines the global non-proliferation regime," Voice of America clarifies.

Washington's updated blacklist included the Ashuluk training ground of the russian armed forces, the Vladimirovka military research complex located in the Astrakhan Oblast, as well as the director of the russian state company "224th Otriad [Squad]" Vladimir Mikheichik. In addition, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of Treasury imposed restrictions on three aircraft of the Military Transport Aviation Command: Il-76MD, An-124 and Il-76 with aircraft numbers RF-78757, RF-82011 and RF-86898.

The 224th Aviation Squad is a subsidiary structure of the Ministry of Defense and provides the transportation of motorcades of the first persons of the state, in particular the president of russia, vladimir putin. In May of last year, the 223rd and 224th aviation squads came under US blocking sanctions for the transportation of personnel and equipment of the Wagner PMC. 37 aircraft of the first squad and 41 of the second squad were blacklisted.

As Bloomberg reports, North Korea intends to send russia new types of tactical guided missiles. These are short-range ballistic missiles, which were first tested by the DPRK in April 2022 and have a range of 100-180 km.

"North Korea has said it will deploy (these missiles - ed) to front-line troops. Given the recent arms trade, North Korea may sell them to russia," South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said.