At a press briefing on Friday, White House National Security Council (NSC) communications director John Kirby accused North Korea of supplying ammunition to invading Russian forces in Ukraine.
Kirby claimed the munitions were passed to Russia’s infamous Wagner Group, a mercenary organization led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Kirby estimated the Wagner Group has about 50,000 personnel in Ukraine at present, the majority of them prison convicts recruited by Wagner, to the evident displeasure of Russian officials.
“Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries. Publicly, Prigozhin and his fighters have criticized Russian generals and defense officials for their performance on the battlefield,” he said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, gestures on the sidelines of a summit meeting between…
