In defiance of Russia's objections, Indian military supplies reach Ukraine.
Unofficially spilling the beans, it's not that Indian munitions are: Ukraine's receiving Indian firepower through middlemen in Europe. Russian meddling appears to be making little impact. Sources from Reuters claim that Indian artillery rounds have made their way to Ukraine via Europe, and New Delhi has remained silent, disregarding Moscow's objections. Eleven Indian and European government officials, defense industry reps, and customs data corroborate this account. The swapping of ammo, initially destined for European clients, has been occurring for more than a year. Indian export regulations dictate that weapons should be used by their intended buyer, unauthorized transfers could lead to future arms deals being banned.
Russia's Kremlin brought up this issue at least twice, such as during a sit-down between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart in July. However, neither the Russian nor Indian foreign or defense ministries replied to Reuters' inquiries for comment. In January, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal declared that India had never delivered or sold artillery shells to Ukraine.
Two Indian government and defense industry insiders informed Reuters that New Delhi manufactures only a tiny amount of the ammo Ukraine uses. One estimated it to be under 1% of Kyiv's total weapons imports since the war's onset. Reuters couldn't pinpoint whether the ammo was resold by the European recipients or gifted to Kyiv. Included in the list of European nations providing Indian ammo to Ukraine are Italy and the Czech Republic, who started an initiative this year to arm Ukraine with up to 800,000 artillery shells, not from the EU.
An Indian official revealed that New Delhi is keeping an eye on the situation. Nevertheless, a defense industry representative with knowledge of the transfers claimed that India hasn't taken any measures to delay the shipments to Europe.
Despite Russia's concerns, India has remained silent on the allegations of supplying Ukrainian forces with artillery rounds. According to Reuters, these rounds have been passed through European middlemen to bypass Indian export regulations.
