The United States has accused Russia of pressuring an independent panel of UN experts to alter a report that implied “Russian actors” were involved in breaking sanctions against North Korea.

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, expressed disappointment in the panel monitoring sanctions against North Korea “for caving to Russian pressure and making changes to what should have been an independent report”.

Haley said the panel should release the original report, which cited “a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products” for North Korea in violation of UN sanctions. It said some products allegedly were off-loaded from Russian ships.

At the end of August, Russia blocked publication of the report because it disagreed with the findings. Agence France-Presse reported that diplomatic sources at that time also said Russia blocked a US request that two Russian shipping companies and six of their vessels be sanctioned over oil shipments to the North.

“Russia can’t be allowed to edit and obstruct independent UN reports on North Korea sanctions just because they don’t like what they say,” Haley said.

“This is a dangerous precedent and a stain on the important work of the panel,” Haley said, calling for the initial version of the report – dating from early August – to be published.

The news came as the US sanctioned a Chinese technology firm and its Russian sister company, saying they are both controlled by North Koreans and provide revenue to Pyongyang. It comes as the US is redoubling efforts to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.

“These actions are intended to stop the flow of illicit revenue to North Korea from overseas information technology workers disguising their true identities and hiding behind front companies, aliases, and third-party nationals,” treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The US in July had demanded without success an end to all oil exports to North Korea, citing satellite photographs and expert reports to claim illegal ship-to-ship transfers had allowed Pyongyang to evade sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

In its original report the UN panel included the names of Russian ships and entities that had contravened UN sanctions, opening the way for international measures against them.

Russia “obtained the removal of the main part of the paragraphs” concerning it, a diplomat said, speaking anonymously.

“The sanctions committee gave in,” a move raising questions about its independence, he said.

By blocking since early August release of the original document, Russia explained that the report relied mainly on American information and did not take into account a Russian analysis of the application of sanctions.