Belarusian businesses supply components for Russian military equipment, journalists find

A significant share of supplies of chassis, electronics and components for Russian military equipment comes from Belarus.

Source: Slidstvо.Info, a team of independent professional journalists

Details: Between February 2022 and August 2025, the volume of these supplies amounted to at least US$1.2 billion. By 2024, it had doubled compared with 2022. The journalists say 29 Belarusian contractor companies are still not subject to Western sanctions.

The findings come from a joint investigation by Slidstvo.Info, the Belarusian Investigative Centre and the Rabochy Rukh (Workers' Movement) initiative, a Belarusian initiative established by former 2020 strike leaders to unify working people to protect their labour and civil rights.

Journalists analysed information on supplies from 58 Belarusian companies to 41 plants in the Russian Federation's military-industrial complex.

Companies linked to Belarus's State Authority for Military Industry accounted for the largest share: 11 such businesses supplied products worth US$1.17 billion.

Among them is Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant, which supplied chassis for multiple-launch rocket systems and missile systems, including to Russian companies Motovilikha Plants JSC and Federal Research and Production Centre Titan-Barrikady JSC.

Optical and electronic products were supplied by the Belarusian company Peleng JSC, for a total of US$875 million, including to Vologda Optical and Mechanical Plant and Uralvagonzavod.

The top 3 suppliers also included OKB TSP, which shipped equipment for missile systems.

Products made by Belarusian companies were found in captured Russian military equipment, including tanks and armoured vehicles. State-owned companies form a separate group, including the Haryzont Information and Communication Technologies Centre, the Sfera optical plant and the Integral holding group, which supplied optical components and microchips to Russian defence companies.

Private businesses were also involved in the supply chains, some of which are not subject to the sanctions, the journalists say.

Some Belarusian companies use products of Western origin, including from Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, which are then used in production.

Background:

• More than half of the plants belonging to the Russian concern Uralvagonzavod are still not subject to international sanctions, even though the plant plays a key role in the production of Russian combat equipment.
• Belarus's military-industrial complex has integrated into Russia's since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with more than 80% of Belarusian companies involved in fulfilling Russia's state defence order.
• The European Union has included rubber and vulcanised rubber products in its 20th sanctions package in a bid to restrict the production of tyres for Russia's military aviation.
• Russian customers do not need to lie to Chinese exporters about the supposedly non-military purpose of components: Chinese companies knowingly ignore Chinese law and themselves offer schemes to bypass export restrictions.
• Hong Kong has become a key logistics and financial hub that enables Russia to circumvent international sanctions and obtain critical Western technologies for its war against Ukraine.

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