Indian firm shipped explosives to Russia despite US warnings

24/7/2025 16:26

An Indian company shipped $1.4 million worth of an explosive compound with military uses to Russia in December, according to Indian customs data seen by Reuters, despite U.S. threats to impose sanctions on any entity supporting Russia's Ukraine war effort.



One of the Russian companies listed as receiving the compound, known as HMX or octogen, is the explosives manufacturer Promsintez, which an official at Ukraine's SBU security service said has ties to the country's military.



The official said that Ukraine launched a drone attack in April against a Promsintez-owned factory. According to the Pentagon's Defense Technical Information Center and related defense research programs, HMX is widely used in missile and torpedo warheads, rocket motors, exploding projectiles and plastic-bonded explosives for advanced military systems.



The U.S. government has identified HMX as "critical for Russia's war effort" and has warned financial institutions against facilitating any sales of the substance to Moscow.



The HMX sale to Russian firms has not been previously reported.



Russian defense manufacturers have been working around the clock for the past several years to sustain President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, which intensified with Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.