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This article was originally published in Russian on April 14, 2025.
Russian defense enterprises continue to use Israeli-manufactured drills, cutters, and milling tools, which are being supplied through third-party countries, according to an investigation by The Insider. In 2024 alone, over $10 million worth of metal-cutting tools were shipped from Israel to Russia — including milling cutters, drill bits, lathe tools, tool holders (some made of ultra-hard alloys and cermet), as well as precision tools for grinding and grooving.
Analyzing Russian customs data, The Insider identified the Israeli tool brands most in demand among Russian manufacturers.
ISCAR
The largest supplier is ISCAR, an Israeli cutting tool manufacturer and a subsidiary of the multinational IMC Group (International Metalworking Companies), which is itself a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
According to corporate records from Russia’s SPARK-Interfax database, IMC’s Russian subsidiary, LLC “Iscar” (ООО «Искар»), has not conducted business since 2022. However, the parent company remains its formal founder — possibly due to legal complications connected with exiting the Russian market.
Another IMC entity in Russia, LLC “Tegotek Rus” (ООО «Теготек Рус») continued paying managers' salaries in 2023 but reported no revenue.
A third branch, LLC “Tungaloy Rus” (ООО «Тунгалой Рус») retained significant revenue in 2022–2023, though these figures had dropped by hundreds of millions of rubles compared to those of 2021. After accounting for operating expenses, the company posted a negative net income after taxes.
Despite this, over $4 million worth of ISCAR products — primarily precision tools for lathes and milling machines — were imported into Russia in 2024. Many are compatible with multi-axis CNC machining centers, making them essential to sectors of the Russian military-industrial complex.
Before state procurement data was effectively classified, ISCAR tools were supplied to several Russian defense enterprises, including NPO Bazalt (a developer of weapons and munitions), the Beriev Aircraft Company in Taganrog, and the Sokol Aircraft Plant in Nizhny Novgorod (the latter being a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned United Aircraft Corporation).
Israeli sources report that 120-mm mortars and RPGs produced by Bazalt were among the weapons captured in southern Lebanon in fall 2024. Bazalt-designed cluster munitions have also been used in Syria.
According to Russian customs data, ISCAR tools were primarily imported via little-known Chinese firms and by one company in Uzbekistan.
When asked about shipments to Russia, an ISCAR representative contacted by The Insider said:
“As far as I know, we have not been operating in the Russian market for the past few years.”
Vargus
Another key Israeli brand, Vargus, exported approximately $3 million worth of products to Russia in 2024. Vargus is part of the German NEUMO Ehrenberg Group.
The company’s Russian customers include newly registered LLC “Bertran” (ООО «Бертран»), LLC “Osbor” (ООО «Осбор») — formerly a supplier to the Nizhny Novgorod Plant of the 70th Anniversary of Victory, a subsidiary of state-owned arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey — and LLC “Stirer” (ООО «Стирер»), reportedly linked to Vargus's Russian distributor, LLC “Intekhnika” (ООО «Интехника»).
Previously released procurement data shows that Intekhnika was a regular supplier to major military, aerospace, and space sector firms, including UEC Kuznetsov (ПАО ОДК «Кузнецов»), UAP Gidravlika (АО УАП «Гидравлика»), Proton-PM (АО «Протон-ПМ»), Iskra (ПАО НПО «Искра»), and the Sukhoi Company (АО «Компания Сухой»), among others. Intekhnika was involved in hundreds of government contracts.
The Nizhny Novgorod plant assembles and tests S-400 and S-500 air defense systems and radar stations. Sukhoi Company also produced Su-35SE fighter jets for Iran, which were intended to replace Tehran’s aging F-14 Tomcats (purchased before the revolution of 1979). Iran is believed to have ordered up to 50 Russian jets, which could significantly complicate any future strike on the country’s nuclear infrastructure.
Baruch Books, VP of Marketing and Sales at Vargus Ltd., told The Insider:
“I don't know what you're talking about. Our tools are available globally. We have thousands of dealers, and we don’t know exactly where every tool ends up. We can’t control everything. If we had this information, we might take steps to stop it.”
Customs records show Vargus tools were shipped to Russia in 2024 by Israeli company Delta Legen Ltd., headed by Oleg Freidkin. A person of the same name in Russia is listed as the head and beneficiary of LLC “Iskham” (ООО «Исхам») and LLC “Ternado” (ООО «Тернадо»), which for over a decade supplied cutting tools to Russian state enterprises, including the Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET), the Khrunichev Space Center, and the Shcheglovsky Val (АО «Щегловский Вал») defense plant in the city of Tula.
“Delta Legen supplies only products that are authorized for sale. None of the company's clients are on sanctions lists, state-owned, or part of the defense industry.
To avoid any misunderstanding, should any inaccurate information be published, the company will take legal action to protect its business reputation,” Delta Legen Ltd. told The Insider.
Carmex
In 2024, Russia imported around $2 million worth of cutting tools from Israeli brand Carmex. The main importer was LLC “Standard Tools” (ООО «Стандарт Тулс»), which increased its revenue from 600 million rubles in 2022 to nearly 2 billion in 2023.
Previous Carmex clients included propulsion systems manufacturer OKB Fakel (ОКБ «Факел»), Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (РКК «Энергия»), and Rosatom subsidiary NIKIMT Atomstroy (АО «НИКИМТ-Атомстрой»). When contacted, Carmex’s marketing department declined to comment. A representative said: “I don’t know if Carmex sells to Russian companies.”
Meanwhile, customs data confirms direct shipments from Israel’s Carmex Precision Tools Ltd. to Russia totaling $1,843,367.69 in 2024 alone.
EROJET
Israeli brand EROJET exported around $500,000 worth of cutting tools to Russia in 2024. The main previous customer was the Stupino Machine-Building Plant — part of Rostec subsidiary Russian Helicopters, the defense company behind the Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopter.
EROJET’s key importer — LLC “Alkrona” (ООО «Алькрона») — saw its profits triple in 2022 and grow sixfold in 2023.
CEO Shagiv Shafir told The Insider:
“These tools can be used for many purposes — [such as] working with plastic and other tasks. Who uses them and how is unknown to us — whether in Israel or in other countries. We work with distributors around the world and do not always know the end users. We have no direct contact with them.”
Nevertheless, customs records show that in 2024 EROJET shipped goods worth a total of $489,950.68 to four Russian firms.
Only half of the Israeli cutting tools shipped to Russia in 2024 were sent directly from Israel. China ranked second on the list of countries of origin, and Uzbekistan third — with $1.4 million worth of Israeli ISCAR tools routed via Uzbek firms.
Given the lack of a developed machine-building sector in Uzbekistan, it is unlikely that companies involved in supplying high-tech cutting tools to the country are unaware of the machines’ end users. Moreover, all tools routed through Uzbekistan were ISCAR-branded products.
On the Uzbek side, the shipments were handled by LLC “Techproject”; on the Russian side — by LLC “Resursprofi” (ООО «Ресурспрофи»).