According to US intelligence, Russia is buying millions of artillery shells and short-range missiles from North Korea.

 This was reported by the American edition of The New York Times.

 The purchase of ammunition from North Korea became known a few days after Russia received the first batches of Iranian-made drones.

 Russia's decision to reach out to Iran and now North Korea is a sign that sanctions and export controls imposed by the US and Europe are preventing Moscow from getting supplies for its military, US government officials said.

 The United States has provided few details on declassified intelligence about the exact weapons, timing or size of the batch ordered from North Korea. A US official said that in addition to short-range missiles and artillery shells, Russia will try to purchase additional North Korean equipment in the future.

 "The Kremlin should be concerned that it has to buy anything from North Korea at all," commented Mason Clark, who heads the Russia group at the Institute for the Study of War.

 Both Iran and North Korea are largely cut off from international trade by US and international sanctions, meaning that neither country has anything to lose by making deals with Russia.

 Any agreement to purchase weapons from North Korea is a violation of UN resolutions aimed at prohibiting the proliferation of weapons from Pyongyang.

 An unnamed US official said that the new agreement with North Korea shows Moscow's desperation.

 Frederick W. Kagan, a military expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the appeal to North Korea is a sign that Russia does not appear to be able to produce the most basic technology needed to wage war.