{"id":194961,"date":"2025-12-31T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T10:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/war-in-ukraine-was-the-russian-cargo-ship-sunk-in-the-mediterranean-last-year-carrying-nuclear-weapons-intended-for-north-korea\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T10:56:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T10:56:02","slug":"war-in-ukraine-was-the-russian-cargo-ship-sunk-in-the-mediterranean-last-year-carrying-nuclear-weapons-intended-for-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/war-in-ukraine-was-the-russian-cargo-ship-sunk-in-the-mediterranean-last-year-carrying-nuclear-weapons-intended-for-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"War in Ukraine: Was the Russian Cargo Ship Sunk in the Mediterranean Last Year Carrying Nuclear Weapons Intended for North Korea?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\nSunk a little over a year ago in international waters between Spain and Algeria, the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major is preparing to reveal its last secrets. According to an investigation by our Spanish colleagues, it seems that the cargo ship was used to charter nuclear reactors to North Korea.\n<\/p>\n

The secret finally revealed? On December 24, the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major, with 16 crew members on board\u2014all Russian citizens\u2014sank after three explosions in the engine room. The Oboronloguistika company had mentioned a “terrorist attack.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Officially, the cargo ship, under US sanctions, was carrying empty containers, cranes, and hatch covers for icebreakers. It had left Saint Petersburg and was reportedly bound for Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.<\/p>\n

A Nuclear Shipment to North Korea?<\/h2>\n

A survey by our Spanish colleagues from La Verdad<\/a><\/em> reveals that the icebreaker hatch covers were, in fact, VM-4SG nuclear reactors weighing 65 tonnes each. Aerial imagery has reportedly shown certain components consistent with nuclear materials. However, official documents indicate that, following the explosions, the cargo ship should not have been laden with nuclear fuel.<\/p>\n

Additional information points to the vessel not heading to Vladivostok as initially claimed, but rather to Rason, North Korea, following a mutual assistance agreement signed a few months earlier between Putin and Kim Jong-Un. Notably, the port of Rason is located only kilometers away from Vladivostok.<\/p>\n

Possible Causes of the Explosions<\/h2>\n

Spanish authorities are investigating the cause of the explosions that sunk the Ursa Major. Reports suggest that the hull of the cargo ship was perforated from the outside to the inside. As discussed by La Verdad<\/em>, officials speculate that the hole could have been inflicted by a weapon known to only a select group, including Russians, Chinese, and certain NATO countries. This raises the question: Was this an act by a Western nation aimed at thwarting a covert nuclear delivery to North Korea?<\/p>\n

Adding to the intrigue, a scientific vessel, typically associated with espionage activities, approached the sinking site a few weeks later. This maneuver could have enabled Russian authorities to confirm the absence of the nuclear cargo.<\/p>\n

Implications and Global Concerns<\/h2>\n

The potential implications of these events are grave. If the speculations regarding a nuclear shipment to North Korea are accurate, this could elevate tensions between North Korea, the United States, and their allies. It also raises questions about maritime security and the enforcement of international sanctions.<\/p>\n

The case of the Ursa Major serves as a reminder of the fragility of geopolitical alliances and the hidden dangers lurking in the international shipping lanes. As investigations continue, the world anxiously awaits verification of these claims, which have the potential to reshape our understanding of recent geopolitical dynamics.<\/p>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunk a little over a year ago in international waters between Spain and Algeria, the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major is preparing to reveal its last secrets. According to an investigation by our Spanish colleagues, it seems that the cargo ship was used to charter nuclear reactors to North Korea. The secret finally revealed? On […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10968,7140,19022,1195,12135,16,1194,704,457,1143,17624,228,326,46066,247,110,159],"class_list":["post-194961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-cargo","tag-carrying","tag-intended","tag-korea","tag-mediterranean","tag-news","tag-north","tag-nuclear","tag-russian","tag-ship","tag-sunk","tag-ukraine","tag-war","tag-war-in-ukraine","tag-weapons","tag-world","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194963,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194961\/revisions\/194963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}