NKorea providing 50% of Russia's ammunition, Ukrainian intelligence says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Russian army service members prepare to fire a mortar shell during drills at the Kuzminsky range in the southern Rostov region, Russia, Jan. 21, 2022. (Reuters)

KYIV (Reuters) -North Korea is providing 50% of Russia's ammunition needs at the front in its war against Ukraine, Kyiv's military spy chief Kyrylo Budanov said on Sunday.

North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to support Russian forces, according to Ukrainian, U.S. and South Korean assessments, Pyongyang's first major involvement in a war since the 1950s.

Budanov told a press conference that North Korea had also begun large scale supplies of 170-mm self-propelled howitzers and 240-mm multiple rocket launch systems to Russia.

North Korea has already supplied Russia with ballistic missiles as well, and in 2025 it plans to send 148, he added. 

In 2025, Russia plans to produce over 7 million artillery and mortar shells, Ukraine's foreign intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko added. 

"Russia... understands that in general it produces way more than all European countries," he said. 

As for long-range missiles, Ivashchenko said Russia is expected to produce around 3,000 this year.    

 (Reporting by Max Hunder and Anastasiia Malenko, Yuliia Dysa Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)