The U.S. has slapped sanctions on five entities linked to Russia and one individual for facilitating illicit transactions between Moscow and Pyongyang in a bid to thwart their financial cooperation.

The new sanctions target networks that fund North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, which also support Russia’s war in Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement Thursday.

“Russia has become increasingly dependent on the DPRK for weapons procurement and economic cooperation,” OFAC stated, pointing to Moscow’s “mounting losses on the battlefield and deepening international isolation.”

The designations “demonstrate the