Sanctions are a big factor in how many Ukrainians Moscow can kill and how much soil it can capture. But there’s one entity that has largely managed to avoid sanctions, especially from European nations: the state nuclear giant Rosatom.
Rosatom is more than the company that runs all nuclear facilities in Russia (and occupied Ukrainian territories), manages Russia’s nuclear arsenal, and supplies 44% of global uranium enrichment capabilities.
For one, it also helps Russia develop conventional weapons and war materiel, often working with sanctioned firms to do so.
Rosatom’s many subsidiaries and affiliates have a hand in everything from missile launchers and warheads, to cluster munitions, armor, engines, electronics, strategic materials, software solutions, and more.
Rosatom imports sensitive and dual use components to Russia, helping get around sanctions. And it helps the Kremlin persecute people on occupied land.
The corporation is also a potent arm of Russia’s foreign influence, with great lobbying power. Economist Elina Ribakova called it “geopolitical power on steroids.”
Countries that rely on Rosatom for nuclear fuel, licenses, and services, have a lot to lose until they can wean themselves off and they cannot do it quickly. For this reason, the EU’s stated intentions to stop using Russian uranium have run into practical and political obstacles and the EU’s 20 sanctions packages have mostly left Rosatom alone.
“It's an elephant in the room because everyone in among Western countries, EU and US, are afraid to touch the nuclear topic,” said Olena Pavlenko, president of Ukrainian think tank DiXi Group.
Conventional weapons
Rosatom’s role in taking care of Russia’s nuclear weapons is well-known, but the company has a much broader remit in the military space. Director General Alexei Likhachev told Russia’s parliament in 2024: “We are proactively developing samples of non-nuclear weapons and military equipment. Some of them have already been put into serial production and are being used in the zone of the special military operation.”
One of Rosatom’s bodies, the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, has been making weapons since the 1980s, according to its archived website. The center works with research institutes and design bureaus to cover the full weapon production cycle: from theory and design through serial production.
These collaborators include the Scientific and Production Corporation Design Bureau of Machine Building, LOMO, and the V.O. Degtyarev factory, among others.
The Russian Federal Nuclear Center is involved in making the Shturm and Chrysanthemum anti-tank weapons and cluster submunitions for multi-launch rocket systems like Grad and Smerch. Rosatom enterprises help make 57-millimeter ammo for anti-aircraft and anti-UAV systems, and missiles for the Chrysanthemum-S, Igla-S, Dzhigit and Strelets missiles.
The M.L. Dukhov All-Russian Research Institute of Automation develops parts for Russia’s long-range missile arsenal, including control systems for the Kh-101 and Kh-59M2 and Kh-59M2A missiles, and produces initiation systems for Russian warheads. Rosatom-linked entities test ammo, explosion, and aviation equipment and produce testing and calibration systems for weapons.
At the IDEX 2021 exhibition in Abu Dhabi, the chief designer of the T-14 Armata tank, Andrei Terlikov, reported that Rosatom worked on ammunition for this tank. At the Cabex 2025 military exhibition, Rosatom MetalTech presented cables and conductors that can be used in a variety of military equipment according to DiXi Group.
Individual Rosatom-linked research institutes are also working on developing new types of munitions. For example, in 2021, the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics received a patent for a munitions system capable of intercepting unmanned aerial vehicles and guided aerial bombs.
Rosatom is a player in the drone space as well, helping develop parts for unmanned systems through its research institute, Innovation Hub, and in partnership with Renera. Rosatom subsidiaries make counter-drone devices, like the Druzhinnik detector. Together, defense giant Rostec and Rosatom jointly tested eight different drone countermeasures.
Eleron is a Rosatom enterprise, which develops specialized security equipment adapted for use in combat conditions.
Strategic materials
Rosatom is also a big actor in the field of strategic materials and production of high-tech composites that feed the Russian war machine.
The nuclear conglomerate produces composite materials together with Aerocomposite, whose parent company, United Aircraft Corporation—part of Rostec—is under sanctions from the EU, the USA, Japan, and Switzerland.
In 2019, Rosatom began working on industrial production tech with UED-Saturn, which is also sanctioned by all of the above, as well as Canada and New Zealand. Together, they develop and produce gas turbine engines, which are used in industrial facilities, but also aviation and ships.
The sanctioned Ural Civil Aviation Plant and Umatex, which serves as Rostec’s composite materials arm, have a joint venture to develop polymers for aviation. Umatex also makes carbon fiber around the military factories at Alabuga in Tatarstan region.
There are many other roles that Rosatom fulfills—for example, its production of fiberglass, which is used in Russian military hardware.
Dual use imports
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Russia needs to import advanced tech and materials to sustain its war effort. Sanctions have raised barriers to import but Russia can walk around some of these walls, either through using proxies in other countries or harnessing exemptions. This is where Rosatom comes in once again.
“There is an exemption in export control rules… You supposedly cannot sell sophisticated electronics and critical components to Russia, but there is an exemption for the civil nuclear sector and Rosatom falls under this definition,” said Anna Vlasyuk, head of international law and policy research, at the Kyiv School of Economics. “It can seem like people just ignore that they are responsible for nuclear arms.”
“Rosatom was able to both import semiconductors and important foreign components in a way that other Russian actors weren't and possibly served as a backdoor for sanctions in evasion,“ added Marc DeVore, a military scholar with St. Andrews' School of International Relations.
DiXi Group compiled public data on some imported materials. The State Research and Design Institute of the Rare Metal Industry (Giredmet) acquired molybdenum trioxide to make cladding for nuclear fuel, but this can also be used to produce molybdenum powder to make alloys for missiles and armored vehicles.
Industrial Innovation procured an ytterbium fiber laser, which can process metals, stone, glass and plastic. It's useful for both civilian and military applications, such as designing missiles. The company also buys molybdenum-lathanum oxides, which can be used in aircraft engines and rocket nozzles; and tantalum scrap, which can be made into cladding for shaped charge munitions.
The Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering is a center for nuclear machine engineering and develops reactors for nuclear subs. It has procured electronic components for Russia’s Ministry of Defense.
Scientific and Production Association TsNIIMash, which develops power plant safety tools, bought laser-optical systems that can be used for the military. Atomdat-Innopolis, which handles data servers, procured equipment for high-bandwidth, long-distance data transmission that can be used for secure military communication.
Production Association Mayak, which services Russia’s nuclear arsenal, procured the mobile anti-drone system called Stupor.
Crimes against humanity
Rosatom, which plays an important role in administrating the area around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, has allegedly been involved in Russia’s crimes against the local population, whether nuclear engineers, or simply residents Russia suspects of being subversive to its rule.
When Russian forces captured Enerhodar in March 2022, they seized control of the ZNPP, soon dismantling local governance and replacing it with their own authorities. "Repression and violence quickly became systematic,” Ukrainian NGO Truth Hounds wrote.
Rosatom became the body in charge, with Russian forces outsourcing administrative tasks to the company. This kind of policy dates back to the administration of Soviet atomgrads — cities whose role was to support nearby nuclear infrastructure. Rosatom has allegedly participated in Russia’s policing efforts.
“From what we documented, they've been involved in the process of selecting the victims of war crimes and also they were involved more generally in the organizational process for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said Truth Hounds investigator Denys Sultanhaliiev.
Russian forces established at least seven detention sites in Enerhodar and the surrounding area, detaining at least 226 residents and power plant employees. They were held in overcrowded facilities, where they were tortured for information, punishment, and to coerce them to collaborate.
Russian forces deprived detainees of food, water, and medical care, contrary to the provisions of international law. Torture, including beatings, electrocution, sexual violence, mock executions, and threats to family members of detainees, were routine, according to the investigation.
Nuclear safety is another major factor. Under Rosatom management, the ZNPP plant was brought to near-critical levels due to insufficient cooling after Russian shelling damaged incoming power lines and a diesel generator going down, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, it might be difficult to hold Russia accountable for this, as under international nuclear law, the power is vested in the official operator of the plant, which is, on paper, Energoatom of Ukraine. Situations like the full-scale invasion are not well-defined.
What Western countries can do is commit to plans to move away from relying on Rosatom and sanction the company and its subsidiaries.
This is part one of a series of three articles that explore Russian state nuclear conglomerate Rosatom, its role in the war in Ukraine, and Moscow’s international influence.
