The Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group has purchased weapons from North Korea for the war in Ukraine in violation of U.N. sanctions, the U.S. said Thursday.

“The United States can confirm that the DPRK has completed an initial arms delivery to the Russian private military company known as Wagner, which paid for the equipment and currently has thousands of troops deployed to Ukraine,” U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.

Washington accused Pyongyang of delivering “​​infantry rockets and missiles” to Russia as Wagner has been forced to search worldwide for arms suppliers due to