US says Russia's Wagner Group bought North Korean weapons for Ukraine war

FILE PHOTO: An interior view shows PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, took delivery of an arms shipment from North Korea to help bolster Russian forces in Ukraine, a sign of the group's expanding role in that conflict, the White House said on Thursday.

Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin denied the assertion as "gossip and speculation".