About 20 percent of nitrocellulose — a compound used in gunpowder — imported into Russia has been sourced from Taiwan, a joint British-Ukrainian investigative report showed.
Nitrocellulose is a key component of smokeless gunpowder, and the EU has banned export of the compound to Russia due to its ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.
The report said that nitrocellulose produced in Taiwan makes its way to Russia by passing through other countries such as Turkey. Only one company, T.N.C. Industrial Co (台硝), was named in the report, which also named China and Germany as key sources of the compound for Russia.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Before the war, EU countries such as Italy and the Netherlands were among the top 10 nitrocellulose suppliers to Russia, but have now stopped exporting the compound to Russia.
Between March 1, 2022, and Dec. 31 last year, 80 percent of Taiwan-made nitrocellulose that reached Russia had gone through a Turkish company called Noy Ic Ve Dis Ticaret Ltd Sti.
The report cited customs data from various countries and the UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database showing that Russia imported Taiwan-made nitrocellulose worth nearly US$5.43 million during this period. During the two-year period from 2019 to 2021, only about US$127,000 of Taiwan-made nitrocellulose was obtained by Russia. In 2022, the amount nearly doubled to about US$220,000, and then soared last year.
The report said that despite the increase, Taiwan-sourced nitrocellulose was still significantly less than that sourced from China, which reached US$160 million over the same period. However, prior to 2022 there were few records of China exporting nitrocellulose to Russia.
The investigation was carried out by the UK think tank Royal United Services Institute in cooperation with Ukraine’s Centre for Defense Strategies, and analyzed the channels of supply of raw materials for Russian ammunition production.
The report said that despite advances in defense technology, artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems still played the most important role in combat, with about 70 percent of battle losses on both sides attributed to artillery.
Although Russian officials have set a goal of producing 2 million rounds of artillery shells per year, this quantity would likely not meet the needs of the front line, and rapidly increasing domestic production capacity in the short term would be difficult, the report said. Affected by sanctions and transportation embargoes, Russia has had to step up its production of gunpowder and explosives, which require the import of raw materials, it said.
The report urged those selling raw materials used in ammunition to Russia to instead sell the materials to NATO countries to produce ammunition to aid Ukraine’s defense.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS