Ireland's Aughinish plant keeps supplying Russia despite Ukraine war tensions

Our Website's Window into Russia: How European Aluminum Oxide Fuels the Kremlin's War Machine

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This week's feature, an investigation by IStories, opens a window into Russia. The full report is available in Russian and English.

Europe's largest producer of alumina—a key raw material for aluminum smelting—has become entangled in the supply chains of Russia's defense industry.

The shipments originate from Ireland, specifically the Aughinish plant, owned by Rusal, whose founder, Oleg Deripaska, remains under sanctions by both the U.S. and the European Union. Back in 2018, Deripaska reduced his stake in En+, Rusal's parent company, following U.S. sanctions. En+ is one of the world's largest aluminum producers, and after Deripaska's divestment, both companies were removed from the sanctions list.

Aluminum's durability and corrosion resistance make it indispensable for military technology, playing a critical role in defense manufacturing. The European Commission has even urged member states to stockpile the metal.

The Aughinish plant is a cornerstone of Europe's industrial sector. Patrick O'Donovan, Ireland's Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport, and the Gaeltacht—as well as a representative for Limerick, where the plant is located—told IStories: "This facility supplies up to 30 percent of Europe's aluminum needs for construction, aerospace, and automotive industries." Yet he insisted: "The plant has no connection whatsoever to Russia's military-industrial complex."

Nevertheless, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, alumina exports from Aughinish to Russia have more than doubled.

No EU Export Bans on Alumina to Russia

In the summer of 2023, during a parliamentary hearing, lawmaker Réada Cronin questioned Simon Coveney, Ireland's Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, about why Russia remained the largest market for Irish alumina—despite its potential use in the war. The response? Such exports do not violate existing sanctions. Alumina, after all, is the primary raw material for aluminum production.

In reality, the European Union has not imposed any export restrictions on alumina shipments to Russia. While the EU banned imports of Russian alumina in February 2025 to cut off funding for the war, no corresponding sanctions apply to exports in the opposite direction.

Aughinish continues to ship its alumina abroad, with Russia remaining its top customer. Roughly 50 percent of its exports go to Rusal's Russian plants. According to Irish customs data, the alumina sent from Ireland to Krasnojarsk and Sajanogorsk in 2024 was worth over $400 million.

IStories found that supplies to Russian defense firms are channeled through ASK, a formally independent intermediary. Between 2022 and 2024, ASK paid more than 50 billion rubles for aluminum to Rusal's trading arm. A significant portion of that metal was produced from alumina sourced, in part, from Aughinish.

ASK acts as a middleman, selling aluminum to companies in Russia's defense sector. Financial records show that during this period, the firm earned around 28.5 billion rubles from defense-related contracts—roughly a third of its total revenue. Its clients include manufacturers of cruise missiles, ballistic rockets, and tank components.

Alexander Danilyuk, a former Ukrainian defense official and research fellow at London's Royal United Services Institute, warns: "Shipments of EU-produced alumina to Russia could undermine NATO's stated goals—supporting Ukraine and containing Russia." Even if these exports are technically legal, he argues, they expose glaring gaps in Europe's sanctions regime.

According to Danilyuk, restricting the operations of Rusal could have far-reaching consequences for Russia's production of high-tech weapons: "The company plays such a critical role in Russia's arms manufacturing that restrictions could potentially lead to shortages of aluminum and its alloys."

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