Russia accelerates missile production with China's help

Telegraph

6 hours ago

Russia is speeding up missile production for its war in Ukraine and a possible future conflict with Nato with the help of China.
Moscow is reportedly using Chinese companies and Russian intermediaries to dodge Western sanctions on manufacturing equipment for missiles.
It is building up stockpiles that would last for two years if the current pace of strikes against Ukraine was maintained, according to an investigation by the Kyiv Independent newspaper.
This suggests Vladimir Putin is preparing for a long war in Ukraine, despite peace negotiations with Donald Trump, and making contingency plans in a case of a wider war with the West.
Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) officials told the Kyiv Independent that Russia was not just ramping up production to replace missiles used in the war.
'According to our data, Russia is building up a stockpile of missiles of various types,' said a senior HUR official. 'They are preparing for a long war.'
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank, also warned that Russia was preparing for 'a protracted war in Ukraine and a potential expanded future conflict with Nato'.
Last year, Russia produced nearly three times more Iskander-M ballistic missiles – 700 compared with 250 –than in 2023, said the London-based Rusi think tank.
Despite intensified missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Russia is not using all the missiles it is producing, which suggests a stockpile is being built up.
HUR believes Russia has reserves of about 600 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and another 300 Iskander-K cruise missiles – enough for two years of fighting.
Russia's state-owned Votkinsk plant produces ballistic and cruise missiles, such as the Iskander weapons used in air strikes against Ukrainian cities. It also manufactures intercontinental ballistic missiles able to deliver nuclear warheads across the planet.
These include the Yars and Bulava, designed to reach the US, and potentially the Oreshnik, which, it is claimed, can hit anywhere in Europe.
The Votkinsk plant is blacklisted by the US and its allies, which forbid the sale of any materials, machinery or microelectronics used in missiles to Russia. But the missile hub has hired 2,500 extra workers, built new facilities and significantly increased production since the Ukraine war began in 2022.
The Kremlin used private Russian intermediaries to source the specialised equipment from companies in China, Belarus and Taiwan. Those countries have not joined the international sanctions against Russia, and China and Belarus are close allies of Moscow.
On Thursday, China's foreign ministry denied supplying arms to Russia after Mark Rutte, Nato's secretary general, accused Beijing of supporting Moscow's war effort.
The Kyiv Independent used satellite imagery and analysed the plant's internal business operations to inform its investigation.
South Korean intelligence has warned that Pyongyang is continuing to supply arms to Russia and may deploy more troops in July or August to fight in a possible large-scale assault against Ukraine.
North Korea is believed to be receiving technical advice on satellite launches and missile guidance systems in return for sending artillery ammunition and missiles to Russia, MPs in Seoul were told.
The Ukrainians are also attempting to ramp up domestic production of weapons as they steel themselves for a prolonged conflict.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president, has claimed that his country's industry has a capacity worth about $35 billion (£25.4 billion), but his government only has the funds to use about half.
He is appealing to Western allies to pump funds directly into Ukraine's defence industry rather than donating supplies made in their own countries.