Russia is reverse-importing military products from Myanmar and India. An analysis of customs clearance data after the invasion of Ukraine shows that Russia has re-purchased parts of domestic tanks and missiles exported in the past…
An investigation by the Nikkei Business daily shows that Russia is reversed-importing military products from Myanmar and India. An analysis of customs clearance data since the invasion of Ukraine shows that Russia has repurchased parts for its own tanks and missiles that it used to export. Russia, which is rapidly depleting its combat power, is likely to be cooperating with countries with close military ties to improve its stockpile of old weapons and deploy them to the battlefield.
Western countries such as the United States, Europe and Japan banned exports of items that could contribute to Russia’s military expansion following the February 2022 conflict with Ukraine.
The Nikkei obtained customs clearance Data from US research firm Import Genius and India’s Exim Trade Data, among others, to investigate the import record of components such as missiles and tanks.
UralVagonZavod, which produces tanks for the Russian army, imported military supplies for about $24 million on December 9, 2022. The object of the transaction was the Myanmar Army, and it was recorded as manufactured by Uralvagonzavod.
Based on the HS code, 6,775 sighting telescopes mounted on tanks and 200 TV cameras are expected to be imported. Nobuyuki Akatani, a veteran of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force who has participated in tank development, believes that “it may be used to determine the distance to the target and aim optical instruments.”
According to Military Balance 2023, a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russia lost nearly half of its main battle tanks after its invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, the tank stock is 5,000. Oleg Ignatov, a Russia-based analyst for the International Crisis Group, a think tank, noted that “if modernisation is achieved through, for example, updates to optical instruments, the deployment of older tanks [in stock] will also be possible”.
A look at past trade data shows that Russian optical equipment uses Western technology, and sanctions are likely to make it more difficult to procure parts. Nihon Keizai Shimbun asked Ural Vehicles, the Russian government and Myanmar’s defense Ministry for details of the deal, but did not receive an answer by the set date.
Russia’s Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau (KBM), which manufactures missiles, imported parts for a total of six night vision devices for surface-to-air missiles from the Indian Ministry of Defence in August and November 2022 at a cost of about $150,000. This is equipment that can be seen at night and in the dark, and is manufactured by the Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau. The Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau exported the same product to India’s defense ministry in February 2013. Neither the Russian Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau nor the Indian Defense Ministry responded to requests for comment from Nikkei.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia is the world’s third largest arms exporter. The institute added factors such as production costs and performance to the volume of trade to introduce an indicator called “TIV”. On a cumulative basis over the past 10 years, Russia has the largest share of exports to India, at 35%, followed by China (15%) and Algeria (10%). If you buy back exported products, you can update dormant inventory equipment and put it into the battlefield.
The Group of Seven (G7) summit in May also urged third countries to stop military aid to Russia. “It is difficult to get assistance from countries that rely on Russian-made weapons,” said Nobuwill Akiyama, a professor at Hitotsubashi University in Japan who is familiar with arms management. In addition, measures should be taken to tighten controls on relevant companies and countries, such as the disclosure of transactions with Russia.