Importing War Components from India, Here’s How Russia Fools the US

JAKARTA – Russia has set up a secret trade route to get critical electronics from India to meet its war needs with Ukraine, the Financial Times reported, citing leaked government documents and anonymous sources on Thursday (5/9).

The Moscow-based Consortium for Foreign Economic Activity and International Interstate Cooperation in the Industrial Sphere (Ved MMKP) reported to Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade in October 2022 that it spent 82 billion rupees or $976 million on components previously purchased through Western countries.

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These components include parts for telecommunications, servers and other complex electronic equipment that have both civilian and military applications and are therefore subject to Western export controls.

While Western sanctions have cut off Russia’s access to critical electronics manufactured abroad, the country’s military still relies on these components for missiles, drones and electronic warfare equipment.

According to the FT, the Ved MMKP report detailed plans to conduct transactions through a closed payment system between Russian and Indian companies to avoid Western scrutiny. An unnamed Western official described the consortium as a front for Russian intelligence.

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Russia has been raking in Indian rupees from rapidly increasing oil sales to India amid sanctions, with trade between the two countries nearly doubling to $65 billion by 2023.

While it is unclear how Russia executed its secret trade plan, customs filings show that India’s exports of sensitive electronics as listed in the Ved MMKP report have increased significantly since mid-2022.

An Indian company called Innovio Ventures reportedly supplied at least $4.9 million worth of electronics, including drones, to Russia and shipped $600,000 worth of goods to Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country that has become a back channel for imports of sanctioned goods from Russia.

The FT reports that at least one sanctioned Russian company, Testkomplekt, received $568,000 in electronic equipment for use in radio-electronic systems.

(nng)