Russia can redeem weapons previously sold to Myanmar and India, Nikkei Asia reports , citing customs documents.
Their study showed that recently the Russian Federation has been buying, among other things, spare parts for tanks and components of anti-aircraft night vision devices delivered to countries with which it has long-standing ties in terms of arms exports. Further, as Nikkei suggests, these products are used to improve obsolete weapons systems, which are then sent to the front.
For example, in December 2022, Uralvagonzavod, which produces tanks, bought from Myanmar its own military products worth $24 million, which had previously been delivered to this country. It includes 6775 telescopic sights and 200 cameras designed for installation on tanks.
The purchased components were delivered to Myanmar in 2019. According to the documents, they were returned to the manufacturer due to defects found in them. However, according to the experts cited by the Nikkei, equipment inspections are always carried out immediately upon arrival at the destination. The fact that the defects were massively discovered after four years is unlikely.
In addition to Uralvagonzavod, the Russian NPK KBM (Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering in Kolomna), which manufactures missiles, also buys previously delivered equipment. In November 2022, it ordered six anti-aircraft night vision devices from the Indian Ministry of Defense. NPK KBM delivered the same devices to India in 2013.
The US, EU and Japan banned the export of dual-use goods to Russia in February 2022. Earlier it was reported that such products worth $ 1 billion, sent from the European Union to Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, were “lost” during transit through the Russian Federation. As part of the tenth package of EU sanctions, the transit of dual-use goods through Russia was banned .