Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said on Monday that foreign interest in Russian armaments has reached record levels.
“The maximum order value by 2022 is $55 billion. Today we have signed a record $70 billion in contracts,” Manturov said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Manturov attributes this to the war Putin ordered against Ukraine in 2022. “Technology tested within the framework of military special operations promotes itself,” he said. Russian officials describe the war in Ukraine as a military special operation.
Russian air defense systems, aircraft and multiple rocket launchers are in particular demand, Manturov said.
However, the high level of orders also comes with a drawback: as recently as December, Manturov admitted that export orders would have to give way to the Russian army’s needs for new weapons, meaning their processing would be delayed.
Russian war propagandists, such as RT-owned state media chief Margarita Simonyan, initially predicted a quick Russian victory in the war over Ukraine; in fact, the conflict lasted longer than the Soviet Union’s defensive struggle against Nazi Germany in World War II.
Moscow has now explained the duration of the confrontation by claiming that Russia is fighting the entire West in Ukraine, despite the fact that NATO has not yet sent any troops to Ukraine. However, the West is helping the troubled country defend itself with weapons.
