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WDS 2022: Ukraine conflict casts shadow over Russian presence

6th March 2022 - 20:40 GMT | by Leonid Nersisyan in Riyadh

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Models on display at WDS 2022 included (left to right) the Tor-M2E and TOR-M2K SAM system plus the Taifun-PVO. (Photo: Leonid Nersisyan)

Russian companies exhibited at the World Defense Show despite the invasion of Ukraine and a chillier business environment.

Despite an increasingly problematic business environment due to the war in Ukraine, Russian companies still participated in the World Defense Show (WDS) in Riyadh on a fairly large scale.

Moreover, the Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) identifies countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including Saudi Arabia, as key partners in the global arms market.

According to the FSMTC, air defence, land vehicles and small arms are in the highest demand in Riyadh. This was vividly reflected in the Russian display, which was noticeably focused on air defence.

For instance, Russia for the first time presented

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Author

Leonid Nersisyan

Leonid Nersisyan is a defence analyst and research fellow at APRI Armenia. He is a …

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