In the fight against Russian aggression, Ukraine mainly relies on Russian weapons. Now she is trying to get Soviet-era ammunition for these weapons with the help of manufacturers even in remote parts of Eastern Europe.. The New York Times writes about it..

The job is simple, if dangerous: fill a 122mm Soviet-style artillery shell with explosives that will turn it into a lethal.

For residents of Kostenets, a depressed mountain town in western Bulgaria, it is a chance despite the risk, as it means more jobs at the Terem munitions factory in the suburbs..

The plant ceased production of 122mm shells in 1988 as the Cold War came to an end.. But recently the conveyors started working again. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has turned Soviet-era weapons and ammunition into a critical need.

And in January, 35 years after the last 122-mm shells left the Terem plant, the company resumed production.

Small towns in Bulgaria with a rather pro-Russian population can hardly claim the title of strongholds for Ukraine. But after a year of war, despite the arrival of modern Western weapons, the Ukrainian army still relies primarily on weapons that fire Soviet-standard ammunition.. The United States and its NATO allies do not manufacture these munitions, and the few countries outside of Russia that do are predominantly in the orbit of the former USSR.

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Therefore, Western countries are trying to find alternative sources, pouring millions of dollars into workarounds that allow them to hide production and avoid political consequences and revenge from Russia..

And this takes them to some remote areas of Eastern Europe, such as Kostenets and the small town of Sopot, where another state-owned weapons factory is located..

U.S. Embassy officials quietly held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on a new production line in Kostenets last month.. With new jobs, the plant could become one of the biggest employers in the city.

Sopot also felt his business skyrocketed after the Russian invasion. VMZ is located here, a weapons company that provides jobs to most of the population.. Last Friday, the windows trembled from the muffled sounds of explosions - probably these were tests of newly manufactured ammunition..

For years, VMZ has been the main source of income for Sopot residents, says Mayor Dejan Doinov.

“In the city, perhaps, there is not a single family whose members did not work or do not work at the plant. We have practically no unemployment – \u200b\u200bonly those who do not want to work are unemployed,” he said..

Bulgaria has historically close ties with Moscow, although it has been part of the European Union and NATO since the early 2000s. Last summer, the information that Bulgaria supplied arms to Ukraine made a splash in the political circles of the country..

Bulgaria's projected arms exports have risen to over $3 billion, about five times more than foreign sales in 2019, according to government estimates based on data collected last October..

But it's not the only country quietly contributing to Ukraine's war effort.. Luxembourg supplies weapons originating from the Czech Republic to Ukraine. United States intermediaries storm factories in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Romania in search of shells for cash. And Britain, according to the document that the publication received, formed a secret task force to arm Ukraine.

The importance of such sources is growing as Ukraine uses munitions at a breakneck rate that, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, is many times higher than current production levels..

“This is extremely stressful for our defense industry,” he added..

[quote type\u003d" At certain points last summer, Russia fired up to 50,000 rounds a day.. But since then, this number has decreased, and Russia is now also suffering from a shortage of ammunition.. [/quote].

To fill empty arsenals, the United States is increasing its own production of artillery shells six times. But they mainly produce ammunition for NATO standard howitzers..

Since the invasion began last year, Ukraine and its allies have been buying up Soviet-style weapons wherever they can find them.. Ukrainian state-owned companies have been asking brokers in America and other countries for tanks, helicopters, planes and mortars, according to documents obtained by The Times..

To meet the demand, potential suppliers have appeared from literally every corner of the world.. Last June, a Czech arms dealer offered Ukraine ammunition and a dozen Soviet attack aircraft manufactured between 1984 and 1990 for about $185 million..

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According to sources, a secret task force set up by the British Ministry of Defense was focused on obtaining Soviet-style ammunition.. This task became more and more difficult, because the war continues, and the major suppliers have already exhausted their stocks..

In June last year, the UK entered into an agreement with Pakistan to buy 40,000 artillery shells and rockets produced by Pakistan Ordnance Factories, a government-owned company.. According to the terms of the agreement, Britain had to pay for the purchase of Pakistani weapons to a Romanian broker..

Official documents obtained by The Times say weapons were to be handed over by Pakistan to Britain without mentioning Ukraine..

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However, the agreement fell through due to the fact that the Pakistani supplier could not deliver the ammunition, said Marius Rosu, head of exports of the Romanian broker Romtehnica..

Such problems are often encountered in transactions assigned to brokers and large manufacturers.. Rosu noted that his company does not send weapons to Ukraine. However, he does not rule out that customers in other countries can buy weapons from Romtehnica and then ship them to Ukraine..

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Bureaucratic loopholes give Bulgarian officials political cover while fueling Ukraine's war effort - although that cover isn't overly veiled..

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the armed industry in Bulgaria has played a special role. It supplied weapons, in particular, to both sides of the Iran-Iraq war and Libya, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rebels in Angola and Sri Lanka..

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Even after Bulgaria joined the European Union and NATO, its arms industry continued to produce Soviet-caliber ammunition.. This came in handy after the United States sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.. American allies in these countries used Soviet-era weapons, and the United States bought ammunition to supply them in Bulgaria..

After the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Bulgarian ammunition was also seen there, probably used as part of a campaign to arm the groups fighting against the Syrian regime..

This led to a confrontation between Bulgaria and Russia, which supported the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.. In 2015, Russian assassins poisoned a Bulgarian arms dealer with Novichok, and Bulgarian arms companies were rocked by a series of bizarre explosions..

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The arms factory in Kostenko "

Timely elections helped pave the way for Bulgaria to become a major supplier of ammunition to Ukraine.

In the fall of 2021, as Russia prepared to invade, a new party came to power, and Kirill Petkov, the Harvard-educated prime minister, decided that the time had come for Bulgaria to break away from Russia and return to the West..

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Petkov's government coalition included a historically Russian-friendly party that did not agree to send weapons to Ukraine, so they found a workaround that allowed Bulgaria to officially deny that it was arming Ukraine: the government approved arms exports to other European Union countries, in particular Poland.. And from there, weapons could get into Ukraine without the participation of Bulgaria.

Cartridge sales increased, factories increased production. And soon, according to Petkov, Bulgarian ammunition accounted for a third of Ukrainian deliveries, Petkov said..

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However, the Petkov government resigned a few months later due to the collapse of the coalition..

But this momentum was already enough to keep exports going despite the political criticism of opponents of aid to Ukraine..

Sopot residents say the plant has been operating six days a week since the invasion of Ukraine. And whether the residents of Sopot admit it or not, the war in Ukraine has become part of their daily lives..