On Thursday, the United States announced sanctions against a network comprising five organizations and an individual for facilitating financial transactions between Russia and North Korea, which support Moscow’s military efforts in Ukraine and Pyongyang’s armament initiatives, as stated by the Treasury Department.

The Treasury emphasized that this action holds accountable those who have aided the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Russia in evading sanctions. These measures reflect the U.S. commitment to dismantling networks that enable the funding of the DPRK’s illicit weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missile programs, as well as supporting Russia’s unlawful aggression in Ukraine.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller remarked that the increasing financial ties between Russia and North Korea pose a direct threat to global security and the international financial system. He noted that Russia is becoming more reliant on the DPRK amid its escalating battlefield setbacks and growing global isolation. The newly imposed sanctions reveal how President Vladimir Putin’s administration employs illicit financial mechanisms to allow North Korea access to the global banking system, contravening U.N. Security Council sanctions, according to the Treasury.

This U.S. action follows a recent meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu, where they discussed enhancing strategic cooperation, as reported by state media KCNA on Saturday.

The United States, Ukraine, and independent analysts assert that Kim is aiding Russia by providing rockets and missiles in exchange for economic and military support from Moscow. The sanctions are aimed at disrupting financial operations linked to North Korea’s state-run Foreign Trade Bank (FTB) and Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation, both of which have previously faced U.S. sanctions.

One particular scheme, coordinated by the Central Bank of Russia, involved MRB Bank, located in Georgia’s South Ossetia region, facilitating a covert banking relationship with North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank on behalf of a designated Russian bank.

Additionally, another scheme included the Russian Financial Corporation Bank JSC, which is also under U.S. sanctions, collaborating with the FTB to create a Moscow-based entity to access frozen North Korean assets held in inactive Russian banks, according to the Treasury.