Indian munitions quietly fuel Ukraine’s defence despite Moscow protests: Report

European buyers of India-made artillery shells have been redirecting them to Ukraine, without intervention from New Delhi despite Moscow’s objections, claims a report by news agency Reuters.

Reuters claims to have taken inputs from 11 Indian and European officials and analysed customs data to arrive at the conclusion.

These munitions have reportedly supported Ukraine’s defence against Russia for over a year, even though Indian export rules strictly prohibit the resale of arms to unauthorised third parties.

Arms diversion

Russia has reportedly raised concerns twice, including at a meeting between foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and S Jaishankar in July, three officials disclosed to Reuters.

Though in January, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had stated that India had not sold artillery shells to Ukraine, according to Reuters, some arms have indeed been diverted to Ukraine even though these account for less than one per cent of Ukraine’s total munitions since the war began.

It cited two government and two defence industry insiders as confirming the figures. However, it remains unclear whether the shells were resold or donated to Kyiv by European clients.

Arms from non-EU sources

Among the nations sending India-made shells to Ukraine are reportedly Italy and the Czech Republic, with the latter leading efforts to supply Kyiv with arms from non-EU sources.

Reuters quoted a Spanish and an Indian official, and a former executive from Yantra India, a state-owned arms manufacturer, as saying so.

Despite tracking these developments, India is yet to halt the flow of arms, these officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Evolving ties

This news comes amid India’s evolving relations with both Russia and the West. While maintaining strong ties with Moscow, Delhi is also deepening its defence cooperation with the US amid shared concerns about China.

As a result, India’s long-standing defence partnership with Russia is being tested, especially as Moscow relies on over 60 per cent of Delhi’s arms imports. Experts believe this diversion also allows India to subtly demonstrate to the West that it is not firmly aligned with Russia in the conflict, and that Moscow’s influence over Delhi is diminishing.

India’s interest

India, which has been a major arms importer from Russia for long, also sees the Ukraine conflict as an opportunity to grow its own fledgeling arms export industry. Six Indian officials told Reuters that this ambition underlies the increasing exports.

India has reportedly exported arms worth over $3 billion between 2018 and 2023, and defence exports surged to $2.5 billion in the last fiscal alone. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has set a target of $6 billion by 2029.

End-user violations?

According to the report, commercial customs data reveal that Indian ammunition exports to Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Slovenia rose from $2.8 million before February 2022 to $135.25 million by mid-2024, including completed munitions.

Reuters quoted an expert on Indian defence as saying that Delhi’s push to expand its arms exports likely led to some end-user violations.

Italian defence contractor MES has reportedly been identified as a key buyer of Indian shells, which it processes before sending them to Ukraine. Customs records reportedly show that Yantra India shipped 155mm shells worth $35 million to MES between February 2022 and July 2024. Those were then exported to Ukraine.