March 30, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Russia aims to send a delegation to North Korea as part of the Kremlin's ongoing effort to acquire more weapons from Pyongyang, according to a spokesperson for the United States National Security Council.

Alleged arms dealer Ashot Mkrtychev is at the center of this latest effort by Russia to circumvent unprecedented Western sanctions and export controls over its brutal invasion of Ukraine, Kirby said Thursday.

The US Treasury Department issued sanctions against Mkrtychev earlier Thursday morning, accusing him of trying to facilitate an arms deal between Russia and North Korea.

"With this new pariah status also comes risks for those who provide support to him, as we will not hesitate to target such malign actors in the future," Kirby said, vowing to "continue to identify, expose and counter Russian attempts to acquire military equipment from North Korea or any other state that is prepared to support its war in Ukraine."

Some background: The US says Russia started purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea last year, as CNN has earlier reported. And toward the end of 2022, North Korea supplied infantry rockets to the private military company Wagner Group for use in the war in Ukraine.

US officials have characterized the purchases as a sign that Moscow's military has dwindling stocks of the weapons it needs to sustain the invasion.

The Biden administration was not given any advance warning ahead of the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich Thursday, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said

“We were just as surprised by this as all of you were, and it’s too soon to know or to be able to indicate that this is some sort of larger movement afoot here,” Kirby said, adding the administration is “single-mindedly focused” on getting consular access to Gershkovich so they can assess his condition on their own.

Kirby wouldn’t say if he believes if Gershkovich, who was credentialed to practice journalism in Russia, has been wrongfully detained, deferring to the State Department, which is tasked with officially determining if Americans are detained wrongfully abroad.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Thursday the department is in contact with the Wall Street Journal.

The US Treasury has sanctioned a man accused of trying to facilitate an arms deal between Russia and North Korea, as the Kremlin looks for new avenues to circumvent Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Thursday's announcement, leveled against Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev, is particularly notable since it's rare for the Treasury to publicly acknowledge efforts to disrupt a deal that's still underway.

"We remain committed to degrading Russia’s military-industrial capabilities, as well as exposing and countering Russian attempts to evade sanctions and obtain military equipment from the DPRK or any other state that is prepared to support its war in Ukraine."

The alleged scheme: Starting at the end of 2022, Mkrtychev has been working with North Korean officials to secure "over two dozen" types of weapons and munitions for Russia, according to the Treasury. In exchange, Russia would provide items like commercial aircraft, raw materials and commodities.

Moscow had prepared its end of the deal and was ready to make the exchange, according to the Treasury, which cited the accused dealer's correspondence with the countries.

Dwindling supplies? The US says Russia started purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea last year, as CNN has earlier reported.

The purchases suggest Russia's military has suffered from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions, a US official said at the time.

The Treasury repeated that narrative with Thursday's announcement.

The US has accused North Korea of trying to conceal its weapons shipments to Russia, making it appear as if the ammunition is being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa, according to declassified US intelligence.

The Biden administration is “deeply concerned" over reports Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia on charges of espionage, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. 

“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms," she added.

The press secretary also noted the State Department's advise for Americans to not travel to Russia, and added that if they are currently residing or traveling there, then they should "depart immediately."

The United States government is “deeply concerned over Russia’s widely-reported detention of a U.S. citizen journalist,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Thursday following the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Blinken said the department is in contact with the Wall Street Journal, according to the statement which did not directly name Gershkovich.

“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices,” the statement added.

Gershkovich is the first journalist to be accused of spying by Russia since 1986, when reporter Nick Daniloff was detained on a similar charge while working for the US.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted video of Ukrainian units training on US-provided Stryker and Cougar fighting vehicles — part of a military aid package worth billions of dollars. 

The vehicles "are now in the capable hands of Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces. Took them for a test drive. I’m glad that the best soldiers in the world are getting the best vehicles from our partners,” he said in a tweet Thursday.

The Strykers are eight-wheel armored fighting vehicles. The Pentagon announced in January that it would send 90 Strykers to Ukraine.

Cougars are mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. The US Defense Department announced it would send 37 to Ukraine in December.

Photographs published earlier this week by Reznikov showed a variety of western hardware assembled at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, including British Challenger 2 tanks, Roshel Senator armored vehicles, and German Marder infantry fighting vehicles.

The family of Paul Whelan responded to the news of Russia arresting American journalist Evan Gershkovich and said they were "sorry to hear that another American family will have to experience the same trauma that we have had to endure for the past 1,553 days.”

“Unfortunately, the White House does not seem to have found a way to resolve cases like Paul's, where an American is falsely charged with espionage by the Kremlin,” Paul’s brother David Whelan said in an email to the press Thursday.

Paul Whelan was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges. He was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial US officials denounced as unfair.

The United States government was informed of reporter Evan Gershkovich's arrest by the Wall Street Journal, according to a US official.

The WSJ declined to comment on the report.

The US has not yet formally approached the Kremlin about the correspondent's detainment, according to Russia's foreign ministry.

What the paper has said so far: The newspaper “vehemently denies the allegations from the (Russian security service) and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter," it said in a statement.

In a memo informing staff of the arrest, Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said she is very concerned for Gershkovich's safety.

The paper is in contact with the reporter's family, a person familiar with the situation told CNN.

President Vladimir Putin has conceded that Western sanctions designed to starve the Kremlin of funds for its invasion of Ukraine could deal a blow to Russia’s economy.

“The illegitimate restrictions imposed on the Russian economy may indeed have a negative impact on it in the medium term,” Putin said in televised remarks Wednesday reported by state news agency TASS.

It is a rare admission by the Russian leader, who has repeatedly insisted that Russia’s economy remains resilient and that sanctions have hurt Western countries by driving up inflation and energy prices.

Putin said Russia’s economy had been growing since July, thanks in part to stronger ties with “countries of the East and South,” likely referring to China and some African countries. He also stressed the importance of domestic demand to the economy, saying it was becoming the leading driver of growth.

Russia’s economy has showed surprising resilience to unprecedented sanctions imposed by the West, including an EU ban on most imports of oil products. Preliminary estimates from the Russian government show that economic output shrank by 2.1% last year — a contraction more limited than many economists initially predicted.

Yet while China has thrown the Kremlin an economic lifeline by buying Russian energy and providing an alternative to the US dollar, cracks are starting to appear.

The Russian government’s revenue plunged 35% in January compared with a year ago, while expenditures jumped 59%, leading to a budget deficit of about 1,761 billion rubles ($23.3 billion).

The World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are forecasting contractions of 3.3% and 5.6%, respectively, in 2023. The International Monetary Fund expects Russia’s growth to remain flat this year, but for the economy to shrink by at least 7% in the medium term.

In response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Western countries have announced more than 11,300 sanctions since the February 2022 invasion, and frozen some $300 billion of Russia’s foreign reserves.

An outspoken Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, said earlier this month that Russia could find itself with no money as soon as next year.

— Rob North and Livvy Doherty contributed reporting.