A group of senior Russian weapons specialists appeared to stay in Pyongyang an extra day after the defense minister’s departure over the weekend, according to NK Pro analysis, possibly to visit arms factories or hold additional talks on North Korea’s participation in the war on Ukraine.

The group includes top officials in charge of weapons procurement and artillery, who joined defense minister Andrei Belousov in Pyongyang for a series of meetings with their DPRK counterparts and leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim treated the Russians to a grand banquet and concert, with members of the delegation and embassy in Pyongyang shown crying while watching a propaganda film glorifying Russia’s war and each side’s nuclear missiles. 

But the two sides did not publicize North Korea’s contributions of weapons and troops to the war in coverage of the delegation’s trip, and the Russian defense ministry has not acknowledged extra activities beyond Belousov’s on Friday and his departure the next day. 

EXTRA PLANE AT AIRPORT

NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery and DPRK state media photos suggest Russian military officials stayed behind in Pyongyang for at least an extra day after Belousov left midday on Nov. 30.

Planet Labs high-resolution imagery shows three planes matching the dimensions of Ilyushin Il-62s at the Pyongyang International Airport terminal on the morning of Dec. 1 — one more than the two that national carrier Air Koryo typically parks there.

This is likely the Russian military plane matching the appearance of an Il-62 visible at the terminal’s north parking apron in Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) photos of Belousov’s Saturday departure ceremony. KCNA has not uploaded higher-resolution photos that show the plane’s tail number.

The departure ceremony photos showed vice defense minister in charge of arms procurement Alexey Krivoruchko and at least three other Russian military generals standing alongside North Koreans to wave goodbye to Belousov as he boarded his Russia Special Flight Squadron Tu-214PU-SBUS (tail number RA-64529), suggesting they would take the other plane home.

The plane was gone by the morning of Dec. 2, according to Planet Labs imagery. Flight tracking services did not pick up a second Russian plane in North Korea at the same time as Belousov’s plane. 

While the plane’s identity is still unconfirmed, it could be a Russian Air Force Il-62 with tail number RA-86539, which headed east from Moscow on Nov. 27 and arrived back there late on Dec. 1 KST. This lines up with Belousov’s trip to Astana and then Pyongyang, but its whereabouts in the interim do not appear on public services like Flightradar24.

Meanwhile, the tracking website showed that another Russian Air Force plane — an Antonov An-148 (tail number RA-61729) — made a quick round trip from Vladivostok to Pyongyang on Dec. 2, staying in the DPRK capital from around 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Another Il-62 (tail number RA-86559) also stopped in Pyongyang on the afternoon of Nov. 28.

WHO STAYED BEHIND

The officials accompanying Belousov on his recent trip to Pyongyang included Alexei Krivoruchko and Alexei Volkov, high-ranking brass in charge of procurement and artillery within the Russian defense ministry, according to NK Pro analysis.

Krivoruchko is currently Belousov’s deputy, overseeing issues of “military and technical support” for the Russian armed forces, which includes the provision of weaponry.

The official formerly served as head of Kalashnikov Concern, Russia’s major arms manufacturer, and he often joined superiors like former defense minister Sergei Shoigu on inspections of munitions and weapons factories.

Krivoruchko also met Kim Jong Un on multiple occasions, most recently in July when the DPRK leader held a one-on-one audience with him. He accompanied his former boss Shoigu on a visit to Pyongyang for arms talks in July 2023 and when Kim toured Russian naval and air force bases in Vladivostok in September.

Forbes Russia named Krivoruchko the wealthiest vice minister of defense in 2019, reporting that he made nearly $2 million a year earlier and owns multiple expensive properties and cars like the Ford F-150 Raptor 4WD, Aston Martin Vanquish and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The ministry hid this information afterwards.

The team of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny accused Krivoruchko of corruption in a 2022 investigation, claiming that he previously owned a luxurious estate on Fisher Island in Miami and that two of his daughters were born in the U.S.

Volkov, the other official in the spotlight, heads the ministry’s Main Missile and Artillery Directorate that coordinates Russia’s offensive against Ukraine and oversees arsenals that store DPRK munitions.

Unlike Krivoruchko, Volkov is a career officer who rose through the ranks to major general, specializing in artillery since his college years, according to the ministry’s website.

He has also accompanied top leadership on various inspections, including when he showed first-person view drones and artillery systems to Shoigu in May.

Chris Monday, a Russia researcher at Dongseo University, suggested that Volkov’s role was to secure more missiles and artillery munitions as Putin likely “intends to continue the war and take more land.”

While the identity of the two other generals remain unknown, it is clear from their uniform patches that they belong to the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces, the command center of military activities. 

The two have little or no online presence, and it’s possible that they are affiliated with the General Staff’s intelligence arm — the Main Directorate of the General Staff, formerly known as the GRU.

It wouldn’t be the first time for high-ranking GRU officials to visit Pyongyang, as the head of the intelligence agency Igor Kostyukov was part of Shoigu’s entourage in North Korea last year.

Joint defense initiatives were perhaps the main issue at hand back then, as evident from the presence of Alexander Kshimovsky, who heads the ministry’s Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation.

Several minor officials from Shoigu’s visit last year also joined Belousov’s delegation this time around, such as two colonels Maxim Penkin and a man surnamed Suchkov, who appear to often accompany Russian military delegations abroad. Both are Kshimovsky’s subordinates.

“Russia has been trying to get North Korea to improve quality and to produce shells to specification,” expert Monday said. “Russia is still focused on the nuts-and-bolts of winning the war.”

WHAT THEY DID

During their extra day in Pyongyang, the Russian officials could have checked out an arms expo that opened the week before, or possibly visited factories producing weapons that Russia seeks for its invasion of Ukraine.

These include 600mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) rockets produced at the Kanggye Tractor Factory in the northern part of the country and 240mm rockets possibly produced at a new factory nearby and also at the Tonghungsan Machine Factory on the east coast. Launch vehicles for the 240mm MLRS are produced at the former Pyeonghwa Motors factory in Nampho on the west coast. 

North Korea has reportedly started to supply Russia with M-1989 Koksan self-propelled guns and M-1991 240mm MLRS, in addition to deploying up to 12,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk region since October.

The KN-23/24 (Hwasong-11 series) SRBMs that Russia has used to target Ukrainian civilian centers throughout this year are produced at the February 11 Factory also in Hamhung.

Other factories currently undergoing renovations in Sinhung and Sinuiju produce anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) and carrier vehicles which Russia has reportedly acquired.

Another possibility is that the delegation visited DPRK space agency facilities in relation to reported Russian help with North Korea’s military satellite development, or a drone factory or development center.

In return, Kim might want to get Russia’s help in upping its aviation capabilities, Monday suggested, pointing to North Korea’s TV report about the air force on the day of Belousov’s visit.

Edited by Bryan Betts