Italian firm ships explosives to Ukraine irks Putin's Russia
According to Reuters, an Italian defence systems manufacturer buys empty missiles in India, fills them with explosives, and sends them to Ukraine. This has greatly displeased Vladimir Putin, who was counting on strengthened trade relations with India and influence over its economy.
As reported by Reuters, India has been supplying artillery ammunition to Ukraine for over a year through European countries.
Of course, Vladimir Putin is not pleased with this fact. The Kremlin has repeatedly pressed for a halt to this trade. In July, this topic was discussed at a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
India's law prohibits the use of exported weapons by entities other than the declared buyer, but in practice, it is not enforced.
According to Reuters sources, despite India's official stance of not engaging in ammunition supplies to Ukraine, some European countries, such as Italy and the Czech Republic, regularly transport Indian missiles to Ukraine.
Meccanica per l'Elettronica e Servomeccanismi (MES), an Italian defence systems manufacturer, buys empty missiles in India, fills them with explosives, and sends them to Ukraine. Customs data shows that the exported ammunition included 6-inch shells and bombs of 5 inches and 4 inches.
Two sources in the Indian government and defence industry told Reuters that Ukraine uses less than 1 percent of India's weapons in imported ammunition to Kyiv.
Russia's ally helping Ukraine? India seizes the opportunity
Reuters reports that India is using the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to increase its arms exports. Customs data indicates that Indian ammunition exports to Europe have increased from 2.8 million USD to 135.25 million USD since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
India maintains a neutral stance on the Ukraine war and has not joined the Western sanctions imposed on Russia, which supplies over 60 percent of India's arms imports.
