 Low-quality shells sent to Russia by North Korea are injuring its own troops and damaging artillery. Russia is using low-quality, often defective, artillery shells from North Korea that can cause problems on the front lines, Ukraine's army said. Business Insider Publication reported this. In some cases, the North Koreans supplied shells, damaged cannon and mortar barrels, and even injure Russian soldiers. It is particularly a problem in the NEPA, grouping of forces operating around the southern Kursan region under the command of Mikhail Teplinsky, according to Ukraine's army. Teplinsky, the commander of the Russian airborne forces, was recently put in charge of the area where fighting has raged in recent weeks. North Korea, one of Russia's few international allies, has sent it large quantities of ammunition. One South Korean lawmaker estimated that North Korea had sent Russia at least a million shells, Politico reported. Trevor Taylor, the director of the Defense Industries and Society program at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, previously told Politico that it was unclear whether the North Korean ammunition was of a reliable quality. North Korea runs a war economy, which we don't, Taylor said. But whether the ammunition they are supplying is at the standard of reliability and safety that the Europeans would adhere to is another question. Meanwhile, fears of a Ukrainian shell famine are growing as Western military aid shows signs of faltering. During its counter-offensive in the summer, Ukrainian forces burned through artillery shells at a rate of about 7,000 rounds a day, figures from Estonia's Defense Ministry show. The Kiel Institute, which has tracked aid promised and sent to Ukraine, said in an update earlier this month that while the new U.S. aid package was delayed to next year, the EU's commitment to supplying 1 million rounds of ammunition has stalled. Israel's war with Hamas could also divert tens of thousands of artillery rounds intended for Ukraine, Axios reported in October. Journalists identify at least 46,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine. More than 46,000 Russian military servicemen have been identified as victims killed in the war against Ukraine since February 2022. BBC Russian Service reported on March the 8th, referencing a joint investigation with independent Russian outlet MediaZona. According to the report, 5,565 of the dead were mobilized troops and 8,599 were convicts who were recruited into the Russian military. In the investigation which collects data from open sources, journalists note that the largest number of losses in the Russian army are among volunteer fighters, mobilized personnel and recruited prisoners. On January the 12th, they wrote about more than 42,000 Russian military personnel killed in the war against Ukraine. The journalists write that many reports of the losses were registered during the battle for Avdiyevka Donetsk Oblast. They have also found out that since February 2022, 12 female Russian soldiers have been killed in the war, most of them serving as combat medics. As of March the 7th, the journalists confirmed the deaths of 3,227 Russian officers, 992 of whom were specialists of the command level of airborne troops, marines, special forces, special forces of the National Guard and military pilots. Among the regions of Russia, the highest casualty figures were recorded in Krasnodar Krai, 1,799 killed, Sverdlovsk Oblast, 1,575 killed and Bashkortostan, 1,509 killed. Finally the investigation found that up to 23,500 fighters from Russian proxies LPR and DPR were killed in the war by mid-January 2024 along with 520 dead from Moscow and 523 from St. Petersburg. A senior US defense official revealed staggering Russian losses from Moscow's brutal war in Ukraine, citing 315,000 Russians killed or wounded, at least 20 Russian Navy vessels sunk and up to $215 billion in direct financial costs to supply and sustain its military operations. Russia has also lost an estimated $10 billion in postponed or cancelled arms sales along with another $1.3 trillion in previously anticipated economic growth through 2026 according to the US official.