Putin’s new nuclear bases are packed with Danish products
Products from Danfoss, Grundfos and Rockwool have played a role in Russia’s modernization of two high-profile nuclear weapons bases.
28. maj 2025
Journalist: Thomas Gösta Svensson & Mathias Glistrup
Digital fortælling: Louise Kock, Sofie Erna Schmidt & Johan Seidenfaden
Del af en undersøgelse
Valves, pumps and insulation. Products from the three renowned Danish companies Danfoss, Grundfos and Rockwool have been used extensively in the modernization of two of Russia’s most secretive and heavily guarded nuclear weapons bases near the city of Yasny.
The bases are equipped with Russia’s new nuclear-capable delivery vehicle Avangard, which plays a central role in President Putin’s nuclear propaganda against the West.
The Danish contributions are revealed in a trove of more than two million Russian military procurement documents that Danwatch and Der Spiegel have uncovered from open Russian databases following months of research.
MASSIVE SECURITY BREACH: RUSSIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES EXPOSED ONLINE
28. MAY ’25
In detailed blueprints of buildings and other technical facilities at the two bases, which belong to the 13th Missile Division under Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, it is revealed that several of the Danish companies’ products have been written into the original schematics as far back as 2009. Rockwool is thus mentioned in at least 23 unique blueprints, Danfoss is highlighted in five, while Grundfos is mentioned in other documents with reference to specific blueprints.
Additionally, Danwatch and Der Spiegel have identified products from major European companies from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, all of which have been requested for the bases in Yasny.
Here an original blueprint from the nuclear weapons bases in Yasny is seen, where materials from Rockwool are written in. In total, Rockwool appears in at least 29 blueprints from the bases.
At least 29 completed tenders reveal that products from the three Danish companies were subsequently supposed to have been delivered through external distributors – often with reference to these products being specified in the original blueprints. In total, this involved a minimum of 110 Grundfos pumps and valves for the nuclear weapons bases in 2019, while 474 valves and thermal elements from Danfoss were supposed to have been delivered in 2019 and 2020.
Rockwool products for the bases were first requested in 2012, and demand has continued even after Russia’s large scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It appears from the documents that Rockwool insulation was to be delivered to the bases in April and September 2022 and most recently in April and July 2023. A minimum of 937 meters of Rockwool brand pipe insulation as well as various quantities of insulation boards and ceiling panels were supposed to have been delivered.
SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED
According to the documents, the products sold to the nuclear bases were most likely produced by Danfoss’, Grundfos’ and Rockwool’s subsidiaries in Russia.
This means they are subject to Russian law and thus not immediately covered by the EU sanctions that were introduced in 2014 after Russia’s invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. These sanctions have since been expanded after Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022. Among other things, it is now forbidden to export Rockwool’s stone wool products from the EU to Russia.
When confronted with Danwatch and Der Spiegel’s findings, the three Danish companies all deny any knowledge that their products have been used in the modernization of the two nuclear weapons bases. They also deny having violated any sanctions.
Mark Taylor, an expert in international law for companies operating in conflict zones and author of the book War Economies and International Law, nonetheless believes that the Danish authorities should investigate the companies’ responsibility in the case.
“These products have not just been sold to the Russian military, which in itself is serious enough, but to bases with weapons of mass destruction. This is clearly an aggravating circumstance because the use of nuclear weapons is strictly regulated under international law,” he says.
FAR FROM COINCIDENTAL
Today, the two Avangard-equipped bases in Yasny are put on combat duty. According to the documents, the Danish products are used in several places at these bases.
For example, nine Grundfos pumps, valves from Danfoss and insulation from Rockwool is all used in one of the bases’ security building, which is equipped with small arms weapons and armoured personnel vehicles and is connected to underground corridors. Similarly, we have identified Danish products in everything from guard towers, barracks and transformer stations.
Philip Ingram, a former military intelligence officer with more than 25 years of experience from the British Army, assesses that it is not coincidental that the Danish products have been written into the blueprints.
He also notes that the tender documentation often clearly emphasizes that it must be the exact products from the Danish companies, and that no other products with similar qualities are allowed.
“It is absolutely essential for Russia to know exactly which products are being used on these military bases, which have the highest priority in Russia. That is why we often see that specific products are already determined in the planning phase.”
“These products have been tested according to the standards that the authorities trust, in terms of usability, reliability, safety, load and so on,” he says.
On the blueprints in Danwatch and Der Spiegel’s possession, you can see the names of many of the products intended for the construction of the infrastructure on the nuclear bases, down to the smallest detail. And that knowledge is very useful for Western intelligence agencies, according to Philip Ingram.
“When they know which products have been used in a military facility, they can also identify any vulnerabilities and weaknesses in them. In addition, intelligence agencies can use the information to find out how many of each product have been delivered and figure out the logistics route for these goods and possibly try to stop it,” he says.
PARTICIPATED IN ARMS FAIR
Today, both Danfoss and Grundfos have left the Russian market. The two companies sold all factories and sales offices in 2022 as a result of the war in Ukraine, while Rockwool has maintained ownership of four factories.
Common to all three companies is that this is far from the first time they have been connected with the Russian military. Danwatch has previously revealed how Rockwool after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 has earned millions of Danish kroner on the company’s insulation being sold for use in at least 31 military vessels belonging to the Russian Navy. And how Rockwool in Russia has previously issued an advertising brochure where warships are highlighted as one of the places Rockwool’s marine insulation is most often used.
Likewise, Danwatch has previously revealed that Danfoss in 2017 via a Russian subsidiary, AO Ridan, bid on – and won – two contracts for delivery of industrial heat exchangers for two weapons transport ships in the Russian fleet.
Grundfos has also actively tried to enter the market for sales to the military in Russia. In 2017, the company participated in the Russian Defense Ministry’s large-scale arms fair ”ARMY-2017 International Military-Technical Forum” in Moscow. This is evident from the fair’s official catalog.
FACTS
BILLIONS IN RUSSIAN REVENUE
Grundfos, which is headquartered in Bjerringbro, Denmark, opened its first sales office in Russia in 1998. In 2005, the company increased its presence in the country with a production facility in Istra near Moscow. In 2022 the company decided to shut down in Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine. Only in June 2024 did it formally succeed in getting rid of the activities in Russia. It has previously been reported that Grundfos had revenue of around 1 billion kroner in Russia.
Rockwool today has four active factories in Russia. The first was acquired in 1999. Danwatch has previously revealed that the insulation giant’s subsidiaries in Russia, according to the Russian tax authorities, had revenue of 3.1 billion kroner in 2022, which roughly corresponds to 11.4 percent of the Group’s total revenue worldwide.
Danfoss has been present in Russia since 1993. In 2007, the company established a production and distribution unit near the city of Leshkovo – and the same year Danfoss also acquired the Russian company AO Ridan. In 2022, Danfoss announced that it would leave the Russian market. Danfoss has previously announced that the company had 1,066 employees in Russia, and that the Russian activities generated around 2 percent of the group’s total sales, which in 2022 roughly corresponded to around 1.5 billion kroner.
A QUESTION OF ETHICS AND MORAL
Tom Røseth, an expert in Russian security policy and head teacher of intelligence at the Norwegian Staff College, the military academy of Norway’s Armed Forces, believes that the documentation that Western components have been used in Russian nuclear weapons facilities underscores the companies’ responsibility to investigate where their products end up.
“It is important that companies review the actors they do business with. This has given Russia an advantage they shouldn’t have had.”
“And it’s not just a question of whether or not they break the law. There is also an ethical and moral question one should ask in relation to where one’s products end up,” he says.
Danwatch and Der Spiegel have sent examples of the documentation to Danfoss, Rockwool and Grundfos and asked them a series of questions regarding their connections to the Russian nuclear weapons bases.
Danfoss’ head of communications, Kasper Elbjørn, responds in an email:
“Danfoss no longer sells products on the Russian market and we have no contact with either our former colleagues or former distributors.”
“I cannot rule out that back in 2019 through various distributors we sold for example thermostats or valves for water,” he writes and adds:
“We cannot assist any further, but perhaps you should know that the valves our distributors sold are used to ensure hot water in buildings, and are hardly crucial for the modernization you write about, which we therefore also do not know about.”
What we asked Danfoss – and what they replied
Rockwool’s headquarters in Denmark similarly responds that Rockwool in Russia does not sell directly to Russian end users and therefore has no customer relationship with the Russian military, the Russian government or other public entities.
“Our products are widely available on both the Russian and Ukrainian markets via distributors. Therefore, it is also impossible for us to know or have any form of control over who all the end users on the Russian market are”, Rockwool writes in a statement to Danwatch.
What we asked Rockwool – and what they replied
At Grundfos, the company emphasizes that it sold its Russian business in 2022 and therefore no longer has access to the Russian company’s archives and data.
“Your questions concern the period from 2017-2020. Therefore, we can neither confirm nor deny whether our products, via local distributors, were offered to or sold for modernization of the base in Yasny. But we can, like you, see that they have appeared as reference products in the tender material,” Grundfos writes in an email.
“Looking at the list of products that according to your information would have been sold to the Yasny base, they were not covered by sanctions at the time. Just as they are also not developed for military purposes. These were basic water solutions for buildings. They are standard products that are normally sold to dealer’s inventories, which is why we normally have no knowledge of who the end users are.”
Danwatch and Der Spiegel have also asked about the military fair that Grundfos according to the Russian Defense Ministry participated in back in 2017.
“Since we do not have access to data or people from Russia in 2017, we have not been able to find out whether we were present at the mentioned fair,” writes Grundfos.
What we asked Grundfos – and what they replied
Danwatch and Der Spiegel have also asked the Russian Defense Ministry whether it has been in dialogue with the Danish companies regarding the products that have been used at the bases. We have also inquired about the fact that the companies have been written into the original blueprints.
However, they have not responded to our inquiries.
Reference: https://danwatch.dk/en/putins-new-nuclear-bases-are-packed-with-danish-products/
