SATELLITE images appear to show North Korean cargo shipments to Russia suggesting Pyongyang is illegally providing weapons to Putin.

North Korea has been accused of supplying the Kremlin with ballistic missiles and artillery shells following Kim Yong Un’s meeting with Vladimir Putin last year.

The images, part of an unpublished UK defence intelligence report seen by The Guardian, have been handed over to a team of UN experts.

The three vessels, the Maia, Angara and Maria can be seen loading containers at Najin port before heading to Russian ports.

The images, taken between September and December were part of a report which alongside other evidence was aiming to spark an official probe into arms deals in violation of international sanctions.

The ships in the report were placed under sanctions by the US in 2002 because of their links to the Russian Ministry of Defence’s shipping company, Oboronlogistika OOO.

Two of the ships were identified in a report by the Royal United Services Institute thinktank indicating that “Russia has likely begun shipping North Korean munitions at scale”.

A third was identified by NK News as “part of a group of commercial vessels that have completed multiple deliveries of military equipment and munitions provided by the DPRK to Russia”.

It follows North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui’s meetings with the Russian president and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow last week.

They are said to have discussed “further development of our relations in all areas, including sensitive ones.”

The claim comes amid claims North Korean ballistic missiles were used by Russia in Ukraine last week.

A UN diplomat said: “Russia’s use of North Korean weapons in Ukraine is a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

“It undermines international efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and exposes just how desperate Russia has become in its failed invasion.

“This and other evidence submitted to the UN sanctions committee should trigger a full investigation into Russia and DPRK’s flagrant breaking of international sanctions.”

North Korea has been aggressively tightening ties with Russia, especially after Kim Jong-un’s September visit to Russia for a summit with Putin.

At the time the two dictators vowed to fight a “sacred” battle against the West as they are believed to have carried out negotiations on supplying weapons to bolster Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The two leaders issued another chilling warning to the West over the weekend as they vowed to form a “New World Order”.

North Korea said it has agreed to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia as both countries ramp up a united front against the United States.