Translated material
And now and now there
In violation of UN sanctions, Russian tankers import oil and oil products into the DPRK. It is reported by Reuters with reference to two different sources in the special services of Western Europe.
It is known about three flights undertaken in October - November. Two tankers left the port of Slavyanka in the south of Primorye, one from the find. The fuel was pumped into the North Korean vessels in the open sea.
In particular, on October 15, the Vityaz tanker with 1600 tons of oil came out of the Slavyanka. According to the documents, he was driving fuel for the fishing flotilla in the Sea of Japan. However, fuel from this ship was pumped to the “Sam MA 2” tanker walking under the flag of the DPRK.
One of the sources of the agency, however, added that the evidence proving the involvement of the Russian authorities in the smuggling of oil in North Korea does not have.
The agency failed to find out this issue independently. The Foreign Ministry and the FCS of Russia abandoned comments.
It also remains unknown how many Russian courts were involved in the supply of fuel DPRK and what is the total volume of fuel imported by them.
Only after the publication of Reuters, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary to RIA Novosti that Moscow fully complies with the UN sanctions regime against the DPRK. At the same time, the department noted: "They would like to recall that there is, of course, quotas for the supply of fuel (that is, oil refining products), but there is no complete ban."
In September, Reuters reported that this year at least eight North Korean ships left Russia with a fuel cargo. Now, as a certain Russian source related to shipping explained to the agency, this practice has been stopped and instead the fuel is really pumped in the open sea to the North Korean tankers and even on fishing vessels.
The day before, US President Donald Trump accused China of DPRP oil supplies . "If this goes on, not to solve the North Korean problem peacefully!" - remarked the American leader.
On December 26, the South Korean The Chosunilbo published an article that states that Washington has detected at least 30 cases of oil pumping from Chinese tankers to the DPRK in the open sea since October. According to the publication, this is confirmed by satellite pictures.
Meanwhile, Beijing the prosecution of violations of sanctions rejected.
On August 22, the US Ministry of Finance imposed sanctions against four Russians and the Moscow company Hephaestus for cooperation with the DPRK. Three of the Russian citizens were included in the list precisely for involvement in the provision of Pyongyan oil.