Russia is trying to counteract the transfer of Soviet-era weapons to Ukraine

Russia is trying to influence countries that are planning to sell Soviet-era and Russian weapons to Ukraine.

Dmitry Shugayev, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said that one of the tools was the revocation of licenses from repair companies abroad.

Supplies of spare parts and components for the repair of Russian (Soviet) military equipment are also stopped.

As an example, he cited the revocation of licenses in 2022 for a number of companies in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic to repair Mi helicopters.

At the same time, in 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received from the United States Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters, which previously belonged to or were intended for the Afghan Air Force.

“Other measures are being taken to counter the “illegal” transfer of domestic weapons to Ukraine,” Dmitry Shugayev added.

Such actions were also confirmed by Rosoboronexport Director Alexander Mikheev.

According to him, Rosoboronexport has already stopped cooperation with “unfriendly to Russia” countries in Western Europe and North America due to violations of arms re-export obligations.

The Russian state-owned company continues to cooperate with partners from the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, and Europe, Mikheev said.

As previously reported, within the Czech initiative, EU countries are now planning to purchase Soviet-era ammunition from third countries.

It is possible that Russia is trying to influence these countries and stop the sale of Soviet-era ammunition or intercept orders.

According to the plans, the Czech initiative announced in February 2024 will be able to provide the Ukrainian army with 50,000 to 100,000 large-caliber shells per month. These are large-caliber shells, in particular, for Soviet-era artillery systems.