The Russian Embassy in North Korea has not observed an increase in beggars in Pyongyang or dead bodies lying in the streets, the country’s ambassador has told NK News, dismissing claims featured in a new documentary on famine in the DPRK.

But Ambassador Alexander Matsegora acknowledged that the food situation is “not easy” and that North Korea lacks fertilizers, farm machinery and other materials needed to boost harvests, blaming international sanctions for preventing their import.