Russia sends 300,000 Iran-made artillery shells, 1 mn ammo rounds to troops in Ukraine via Caspian Sea
The most recent shipment, which occurred on 8 March, was loaded onto a 460-foot-long Russian ship Rasul Gamztoz. The ship carried 1,000 containers with over 2,000 artillery shells
Representational image. Reuters
New Delhi: Russian ships have reportedly been transporting huge quantities of Iranian-made ammunition and hundreds of artillery shells across the Caspian sea to resupply Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, reported The Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, the cargo ships in the past six months have transferred over 300,000 artillery shells and 1 million rounds of ammo from Iran to Russia.
The most recent shipment, which occurred on 8 March, was loaded onto a 460-foot-long Russian ship Rasul Gamztoz. The WSJ report claims that the ship carried 1,000 containers with over 2,000 artillery shells.
Rasul Gamztoz arrived in Russia’s Astrakhan on 14 March from the Iranian port of Bandar Amrirabad. It went back again to Iran in late March and later left for Russia.
The ship is reportedly owned by a Russian company MG-FLOT, which was previously called TransMorFlot LLC. It was sanctioned by the US in 2022 for using 16 vessels to transport weapons for Russia.
According to the US officials, Iran uses cargo ships in the Caspian Sea to supply weapons to Russia. They believe that it is impossible for them to intervene in the matter, and even if they want to, they would require the help of former Soviet republics located on its coast.
There have been reports of Iran supplying hundreds of Kamikaze drones to Russia, and with it Moscow has reportedly targeted Ukrainian cities.
Also Read:
– Iran smuggled drones into Russia using boats, state airline: Report
– Moscow, Tehran move forward on plans to set up Iranian-designed drone facility in Russia
Anna Borshchevskaya, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told WSJ that Tehran’s relationship with Moscow is gradually moving from transactional to strategic. She claimed, “Russia is now dependent on Iran for the first time in the broad scope of the Russia-Iran relationship. It’s a historic shift.”
With inputs from agencies
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