NEW DELHI, July 26 (Reuters) – An Indian firm that shipped $1.4 million worth of an explosive compound with military uses to Russia in December said on Saturday it complies with Indian rules and the substance it had shipped was for civilian industrial purposes.
Reuters reported on July 24 that Ideal Detonators Private Limited shipped the compound, known as HMX or octogen, to two Russian explosives manufacturers despite U.S. threats to impose sanctions on any entity supporting Russia’s Ukraine war effort.
One of the Russian companies listed in Indian customs data as receiving the compound is the explosives manufacturer Promsintez. An official at Ukraine’s SBU security service has said the Russian company has ties to the military and that Ukraine launched a drone attack in April against a Promsintez-owned factory.
Promsintez did not respond to a request for comment.
Ideal Detonators said in an emailed response to Reuters that the material it shipped was not military grade. “The shipment … is for industrial activity and it’s a civil explosive,” the company said.
The U.S. government has identified HMX as “critical for Russia’s war effort” and has warned financial institutions against facilitating any sales of the substance to Moscow.
The U.S. Treasury Department has the authority to sanction those who sell HMX and similar substances to Russia, sanctions lawyers have said.
HMX is widely used in missile and torpedo warheads, rocket motors, exploding projectiles and plastic-bonded explosives for advanced military systems, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Technical Information Center and related defense research programs. The compound also has some limited civilian applications in mining and other industrial activities.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab
Suggested Topics:
Read Next
KKR is in talks to buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in a deal that could value the Asian digital infrastructure provider at more than $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Site Index
About Reuters
Stay Informed
Information you can trust
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
