Over the past six months, Iran has handed Russia about 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Russian ships are transporting a large amount of Iranian-made artillery ammunition and other weapons across the Caspian Sea.

The WSJ refers to the information of unnamed officials of the countries of the Middle East.

Over the past six months, cargo ships have carried more than 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Russia.

The last shipment of Iranian weapons was sent to the Russian Federation at the beginning of March by the Russian cargo ship Rasul Gamzatov. The ship was carrying 1,000 containers with weapons, including 2,000 artillery shells.

Previously, SkyNews published an investigation about the arms traffic from Iran through the Caspian Sea. According to SkyNews, the alleged cargo comprised approximately 100 million bullets of varying sizes – 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 9mm, 12.7mm, and 14.5mm.

According to the source, Iran delivered 300,000 shells to the Russian Federation, such as 40mm grenades for grenade launchers, 107mm anti-tank rockets, and mortar shells of different sizes (60mm, 81mm, and 120mm), as well as artillery rockets (130mm, 122mm, and 152mm) and 115mm and 125mm armor shells.

Iran mainly uses cargo planes to deliver weapons to Russia, making interference almost impossible. Shipping munitions via the Caspian Sea is cheaper and simpler logistically, but it requires coordination with the former Soviet republics that line its coast.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the US government and its allies were looking for ways to disrupt the supply of weapons. In theory, they could block Russia’s supply through the Caspian Sea, but this would require cooperation with other post-Soviet states, which is currently difficult to implement.

Iranian ammunition used by the Ukrainian army

The Ukrainian Defense Forces also use Iranian ammunition. Militarnyi has published many articles regarding the use of Iranian artillery ammunition by Ukrainian soldiers for various types of weapons.

Currently, it is not known under what conditions the ammunition enters Ukraine, but it can be assumed that it comes through third countries, which have become intermediaries in the supply chain from Iran to Ukraine.

Another source could be the USA, which periodically intercepts smuggled shipments of arms from Iran to Yemen, and then transfers this cargo to Ukraine.