Russia is trying to negotiate with countries such as Pakistan, Egypt, Belarus and Brazil to return weapons systems it has already supplied.
Source. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation.
Thus, in April, a Russian delegation visited Egypt and asked President Abdul-Fattah Khalil Al-Sisi to return more than a hundred engines for Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters that had previously been sold to Egypt, three sources told the newspaper. According to them, the Russians asked to do it quickly so that the United States would not learn about the agreement.
After the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Cairo was unable to pay for some of the supplies it had already made due to Western countries imposing financial sanctions on Russian banks. In exchange for the engines, the Russians offered Egypt to forgive its payment arrears and continue supplying the grain it needed. In case of refusal, they threatened to withdraw several hundred military advisors working in Egypt, who help to use Russian weapons.
According to WSJ sources, President Al-Sisi responded with an agreement to Putin during the July Sowing Africa Summit in St. Petersburg. The shipment of approximately 150 engines is expected in December.
This year, Russia has also tried to buy engines for attack and transport helicopters from Pakistan, Brazil and Belarus, one WSJ source said, and a former Russian intelligence official confirmed. In the first case, the Russians asked for at least four engines for the Mi-35M previously sold to Pakistan, and in the second case, 12.
In 2008, Brazil signed a contract to purchase the same number of helicopters for $150 million, but last year they were written off due to lack of maintenance by the supplier.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry denied that Russia had made a similar offer, while the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said it refused to fulfill the request because the country does not supply weapons to any of the parties to the conflict.
Belarus sold back 6 engines for heavy transport helicopters Mi-26. Negotiations on the return or buyback of weapons were particularly active during the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive in the south and east of Ukraine.
According to the Oryx website, which keeps track of documented losses, Russia lost 132 helicopters, of which 102 were destroyed, 28 damaged, and 2 captured by Ukrainian forces. These include 32 Mi-8 transport helicopters, 10 Mi-35M attack helicopters, and 58 Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters.