Russia helps fund war in Ukraine through arms sales to India

Aero India 2023 is underway. It’s the largest military air show in Asia, and a prime opportunity for Russia to sell weapons.

Despite all the Western sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin is still making billions in military arms sales. Russia remains the second biggest arms supplier in the world, behind only the United States. India is Russia’s best customer, and as such, has not been overly critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

At this year’s Aero India in Bangalore, Russia is reportedly featuring more than 200 types of weapons platforms and military equipment. According to the Tass Russian News Agency, Russia exported more than $13 billion worth of weapons to India in just the last five years. India has an order on the books with Russia for another $10 billion or so worth of military hardware.

Dmitry Shugayev, Russia’s director of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, said, “Russia remains one of the key players on India’s weapons market.”

In total, Russian military exports averaged around $14 to $15 billion a year. The most popular items are reportedly the S-400 “Triumf” air defense system, Su-30 and MiG-29 jet fighters, helicopters and drones.

Around 60% of India’s military hardware was made in Russia. After the invasion of Ukraine, however, there are concerns in India’s government if Russia can continue to meet its demand. India has the world’s second largest army, fourth largest air force and seventh largest navy.

India recently started undertaking efforts to produce weapons domestically and has enough production capacity to become a weapons exporter if it chooses. According to a report from 1945, India is looking to established arms exporters like the United Kingdom, and developing markets like South Korea, as models for its own domestic arms manufacturing industry.  As a result, Russia is likely feeling more pressure to sell India as many weapons as possible, as it tries to fund its Ukraine war machine.