Explosive growth: Russia has tripled explosives production but still depends on ammunition from North Korea
Russia’s production of explosives has tripled when compared with prewar levels, The Insider has found after analyzing recent freight shipment data. But even that is not enough to meet the needs of the front. As a result, Russia is importing ammunition. From August 2025 to February 2026, around 60,000 tons of explosive materials were imported into Russia from the Far East – apparently from North…
From August 2025 to February 2026, Russia imported a total of 59,000 tons of explosive materials, primarily through the Far Eastern port of Nakhodka. North Korea is the most likely source of this cargo, with shipments of artillery rounds, charges, and KN-23 missiles. North Korea has reportedly been delivering around 4.2 million to 5.8 million artillery rounds to Russia from August 2023 to March 2025.
Russia's defense industry is heavily dependent on explosive materials, with the main producers being the Biysk Oleum Plant in Altai Krai, the Sverdlov Plant in Dzerzhinsk, and the Promsintez in Chapayevsk. These plants receive important raw materials such as nitric acid, toluene, urotropine, and chlorates. Despite reports suggesting that North Korea ran out of artillery shells in September 2025, shipments of explosive materials from North Korea to Russia have still been active.
Written by urgent.news from The Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
