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[global times special correspondent in russia xiao xinxin, global times special correspondent liu yupeng and song bo] "indian ammunition entering ukraine has angered russia." reuters reported on the 19th that indian and european government and defense industry officials revealed that artillery shells sold by indian arms manufacturers have been transferred to ukraine by european customers. despite moscow's repeated protests, new delhi did not intervene to stop the transaction.

according to reports, the transfer of ammunition to support ukraine has been going on for more than a year, based on statements from sources and customs data records. according to indian arms export regulations, weapons and equipment are only available to declared buyers, and if unauthorized transfers occur, the buyer's future sales may be terminated. three indian officials said,kremlinat least two protests have been lodged over this, including one in july during a meeting between russian foreign minister sergei lavrov and his indian counterpart subrahmanyam jaishankar.

reuters said two indian government officials and two defense industry sources said new delhi produced only a small amount of ammunition used by ukraine. an indian official estimated that this amount was less than 1% of the total weapons imported by kiev since the outbreak of the russian-ukrainian conflict. customs records show that in the two years before the outbreak of the russian-ukrainian conflict, india exported $2.8 million worth of ammunition parts to italy, the czech republic, spain and slovenia. from february 2022 to july 2024, this figure increased to $135 million. in addition to parts, india has also begun to export finished ammunition.

reuters said that india has maintained close relations with russia, its main arms supplier for decades. after the outbreak of the russia-ukraine conflict, indian prime minister modi has refused to join the western-led sanctions against moscow. the indian ministry of foreign affairs publicly stated in january this year that india did not transport or sell artillery shells to ukraine. but according to a defense industry executive familiar with the transfer, india has not taken any action to restrict the supply of weapons to europe. sources from the indian government also revealed that india, which has long been the world's largest arms importer, sees the russia-ukraine conflict as an opportunity to promote its emerging arms exports.

india refuted the reuters report. according to the hindustan times, the indian ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement late on the 19th condemning the reuters report. indian ministry of foreign affairs spokesman randhir jaiswal said in a statement: "the reuters report is speculative and misleading. the report implies that india has violated regulations, but in fact there is no violation of regulations, so the report is incorrect and malicious."

russia refused to respond to the report. when asked on the 20th about india exporting ammunition to ukraine through european countries, russian foreign ministry spokeswoman zakharova asked reporters to ask the russian ministry of defense for relevant information.

at the same time, the fighting on the front line of the russian-ukrainian conflict remains fierce. the ukrainian independent news agency reported on the 20th that zelensky said in a speech on the evening of the 19th that the ukrainian defense forces' operations in the kursk region of russia are still continuing. about 40,000 russian soldiers have been transferred to the kursk direction. he said that the ukrainian army has now successfully reduced the russian army's offensive capabilities in the donetsk region. however, the situation faced by the ukrainian army in both directions in this region is still very difficult, and there are fierce battles every day.

on the 20th, the russian weekly argumenty i fakty reported that at midnight on the 19th, russia launched a new round of large-scale strikes against ukraine. arsenals, military airports, fuel depots and other infrastructure in many parts of ukraine were hit. in the kiev area, russian drones attacked several ammunition depots.

russia's izvestia newspaper quoted british expert mercury as saying that ukraine's entire defense line in southern donbass may soon collapse. the ukrainian army is in a critical state in multiple directions, including toretsk. in addition, ukraine may lose chasov yar, and a real disaster will be waiting for them in russia's kursk region.