La Verdad: A ship from Russia's shadow fleet that sank a year ago was transporting nuclear reactors for North Korea

The Russian cargo ship Ursa Major, which sank 60 nautical miles (110 km) off Cartagena a year ago, was carrying two nuclear reactors destined for North Korea. About writes spanish edition of La Verdad.

on December 23, 2024, the Ursa Majo ship from the shadow fleet sank in international waters between Spain and Algeria after a series of explosions in the engine room. Two crew members went missing and 14 were rescued.

The Ursa Major left St. Petersburg, on the Baltic Sea, on December 11, 2024, and was scheduled to arrive in Vladivostok on the Pacific coast on January 22.

The vessel was loaded with 380-ton port cranes needed to expand the terminal in Vladivostok and 45-ton hatch covers for new icebreakers.

The investigation revealed two undeclared containers of 65 tons each, which were later identified as VM-4SG nuclear reactor covers.

The drone photos also showed cooling pipes and other components of the reactor system. It is not known whether they contained nuclear fuel, but it is believed that they did not.

Investigations by the Spanish authorities indicate that the destination of the cargo was the North Korean port city of Rason, just a few kilometers from the Russian border and Vladivostok.

This city is connected by rail to the border town of Hasan. Its port infrastructure is considered "unreliable," so specialized cranes such as Liebherr cranes, which the Ursa Majo was carrying, must be used to unload heavy components such as nuclear reactors.

Suspicions were further strengthened by the actions of the Russian authorities, the Spanish newspaper notes. A Russian warship, which allegedly happened to be in the disaster area, offered to take control of the rescue operation.

It was the landing ship Ivan Gren, whose commander ordered Spanish ships and a military patrol boat to move at least two miles away from the location of the cargo ship, which was still afloat but heeling.

When Ursa Majo went underwater, the Russian ship began launching numerous red flares to blind the infrared channel of the reconnaissance satellites monitoring the situation.

Eventually, the bulk carrier sank to the bottom at a depth of 2,500 meters.

In the first days of January russian oceanographic vessel Yantarused by the Russian armed forces for reconnaissance in NATO-controlled waters, moved from a nearby Algerian anchorage to the site of the sinking.

It is believed that it has deployed some of its submarines, capable of reaching depths of up to 6,000 meters, to check whether there are any traces of the merchant ship's confidential cargo on the bottom.

The 142-meter-long, 16,335-ton Ursa Majo was one of the flagship vessels of Oboronlogistika. It is a subsidiary of the Russian Ministry of Defense, appointed as the sole supplier of Russian cargo to Crimea, the Kaliningrad enclave, the Arctic and the Kuril Islands.

• on December 25, 2025, the DPRK showed the first nuclear submarine. According to The New York Times, Russia may have helped with the construction of the facility.