Russian ports used as ‘transhipping HUBS’ for coal smuggled out of North Korea

The rogue state has sent tens of thousands of tonnes to docks in eastern Russia on at least three occasions – despite strict UN sanctions banning its export – to fund the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

And every time, the cargo was unloaded then re-loaded onto ships bound for South Korea or Japan, European security sources told Reuters.

One of the sources said: ”Russia’s port of Nakhodka is becoming a transhipping hub for North Korean coal.”

Coal is one of the hermit kingdom’s biggest cash sources, but a series of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council have sought to cut, and eventually ban, its export.

Until recently, North Korea had routed its coal shipments through China

But the security sources said the route via Russia had developed as Beijing, North Korea’s neighbour and lone major ally, cracked down on exports from the secretive Communist state.

One of the sources said: “The Chinese have cracked down on coal exports from North Korea so the smuggling route has developed and Russia is the transit point for coal.”

Intelligence agents have reportedly identified two routes used to smuggle coal out of the secretive state.

The first used vessels from North Korea via Nakhodka, about 53 miles east of the Russian city of Vladivostok.

The second route took coal via Kholmsk on the Russian Pacific island of Sakhalin, north of Japan.

However, Russia has denied the claims, and insisted it is abiding by international law.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today: “Russia is a responsible member of the international community.”

And the Moscow-based Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified official at Russia’s embassy to North Korea as saying Russia did not buy coal from North Korea and was “not a transit point for coal deliveries to third countries.”

Asked about the three shipments identified by Reuters, Matthew Oresman, a partner with law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman who advises companies on sanctions, said: “Based on these facts, there appears to be a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution by the parties involved.”

“Also those involved in arranging, financing, and carrying out the shipments could likely face US sanctions.”

Asked about the shipments, a US State Department spokesman said: “It’s clear that Russia needs to do more.

“All UN member states, including Russia, are required to implement sanctions resolutions in good faith and we expect them all to do so.”