European countries transferring Indian munitions to Ukraine - Reuters

That's according to eleven Indian and European government and defence industry officials, as well as a Reuters analysis of commercially available customs data, Ukrinform reports, citing Reuters.

The transfer of munitions to support Ukraine's defense against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and the customs data.

Indian arms export regulations limit the use of weaponry to the declared purchaser, who risks future sales being terminated if unauthorized transfers occur.

The Kremlin has raised the issue on at least two occasions, including during a July meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart, three Indian officials said.

In January, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a news conference that India had not sent or sold artillery shells to Ukraine.

Two Indian government and two defense industry sources told Reuters that Delhi produced only a very small amount of the ammunition being used by Ukraine, with one official estimating that it was under 1% of the total arms imported by Kyiv since the war.

Reuters could not determine if the munitions were resold or donated to Kyiv by the European customers.

Among the European countries sending Indian munitions to Ukraine are Italy and the Czech Republic, which is leading an initiative to supply Kyiv with artillery shells from outside the European Union.

An Indian official said that Delhi was monitoring the situation. But, along with a defense industry executive with direct knowledge of the transfers, he said India had not taken any action to throttle the supply to Europe.

Delhi, long the world's largest weapons importer, also sees the lengthy war in Europe as an opportunity to develop its nascent arms export sector, according to six Indian sources familiar with official thinking.