Italy funnels Indian missiles to Ukraine, Putin livid over arms deal

According to Reuters, the Italian defense systems manufacturer is purchasing empty missiles in India, filling them with explosives, and sending them to Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is highly dissatisfied with this, as he 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.

Vladimir Putin is obviously not pleased with this. The Kremlin has repeatedly pressed for a halt to this trade. In July, this issue was discussed in a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Indian 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 non-engagement in ammunition supplies to Ukraine, some European countries, such as Italy and Czechia, regularly transport Indian missiles to Ukraine.

Meccanica per l'Elettronica e Servomeccanismi (MES), the Italian defense systems manufacturer, purchases empty missiles in India, fills them with explosives, and sends them to Ukraine. Customs data shows that the exported ammunition included 155 mm shells and 120 mm and 125 mm bombs.

Two sources in the Indian government and defense industry told Reuters that Ukraine uses less than 1 percent of Indian weapons in the total imported ammunition by Kyiv.

Reuters reports that India is using the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to increase its arms exports. Customs data indicates that India's ammunition exports to Europe have risen from $2.8 million to $135.25 million since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

India maintains a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and has not joined the Western sanctions imposed on Russia, which supplies over 60 percent of India's arms imports.