--- title: "Spain Uncovers Tons Of Chemicals Destined For Russia" description: "CBRNe World provides those tasked with defending against CBRN and IED threats with the essential practical, scientific and political information. Access the current and previous issues of the magazine by registering as a member." url: "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/spain-uncovers-tons-of-chemicals-destined-for-russia" date: "2026-07-30T21:55:32+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- # Spain Uncovers Tons Of Chemicals Destined For Russia Written by Zoe Rutherford on 25 February 2025. Originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty A supply chain to Russia for sanctioned chemicals, including compounds that could be used to make chemical weapons and nerve-agent poisons, has been uncovered by Spanish authorities. EU exports of such chemicals to Russia would be certain to raise alarm bells given the links of Russian security services to nerve-agent attacks on Kremlin enemies, including the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. Spanish authorities did not release details about the specific chemicals in the 13 tons they seized in the fall of 2024, or the types of chemical weapons they could help produce. But an RFE/RL investigation found that the haul included a compound that plays a key role in Russia’s war machine. RFE/RL’s Russian Service analyzed a video of the bust released by Spanish police and found that the listed contents of barrels they seized has wide application in Russia’s military industry, including the production of drones, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and batteries for nuclear submarines. The compound in question is a strong chemical solvent called N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, whose abbreviation, NMP, is visible on the labels on some barrels shown in the Spanish police video. Widely used in the petroleum and pharmaceutical industries, NMP was included in the **EU list of goods** prohibited for sale to Russia in April 2022, six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine. Global consumption of NMP has also grown due to its use in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries and microcircuits. The labels on the barrels shown in the Spanish police video also indicate the seized NMP was produced by a Chinese chemicals company, and the container number indicates the shipment arrived in Barcelona three months after departing the Chinese port of Qingdao in June, an analysis of shipping records by RFE/RL’s Russian Service found. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Chinese-produced NMP has been purchased by a subsidiary of sanctioned Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec that is a supplier to a unit of Russia’s Kurchatov Institute, a sanctioned nuclear-weapons developer, involved in drone production. It is unclear whether the cargo shown in the video is the only shipment that Spanish police and customs officers detained during their two-year investigation into illicit trafficking of dual-use goods. Spanish authorities have not released the names of the individuals or companies suspected in the case, and Spanish police did not respond to RFE/RL’s inquiry about what substance or substances were seized in the October raid in the port of Barcelona. The full story, with background information about previous chemical purchases and intercepts can be read here [Threat](https://cbrneworld.com/component/tags/tag/threat), [Chemical](https://cbrneworld.com/component/tags/tag/chemical) ## Schema ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "News", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Subscribers", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Spain Uncovers Tons Of Chemicals Destined For Russia", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/spain-uncovers-tons-of-chemicals-destined-for-russia" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/spain-uncovers-tons-of-chemicals-destined-for-russia" }, "headline": "Spain Uncovers Tons Of Chemicals Destined For Russia", "description": "Originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty A supply chain to Russia for sanctioned chemicals, including compounds that could be used to make chemical weapons and nerve-agent poisons, has been uncovered by Spanish authorities. EU exports of such chemicals to Russia would be certain to raise alarm bells given the links of Russian security services to nerve-agent attacks on Kremlin enemies, including the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. Spanish authorities did not release details about the specific chemicals in the 13 tons they seized in the fall of 2024, or the types of chemical weapons they could help produce. But an RFE/RL investigation found that the haul included a compound that plays a key role in Russia’s war machine.RFE/RL’s Russian Service analyzed a video of the bust released by Spanish police and found that the listed contents of barrels they seized has wide application in Russia’s military industry, including the production of drones, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and batteries for nuclear submarines. The compound in question is a strong chemical solvent called N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, whose abbreviation, NMP, is visible on the labels on some barrels shown in the Spanish police video. Widely used in the petroleum and pharmaceutical industries, NMP was included in the EU list of goods prohibited for sale to Russia in April 2022, six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine.Global consumption of NMP has also grown due to its use in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries and microcircuits.The labels on the barrels shown in the Spanish police video also indicate the seized NMP was produced by a Chinese chemicals company, and the container number indicates the shipment arrived in Barcelona three months after departing the Chinese port of Qingdao in June, an analysis of shipping records by RFE/RL’s Russian Service found.Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Chinese-produced NMP has been purchased by a subsidiary of sanctioned Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec that is a supplier to a unit of Russia’s Kurchatov Institute, a sanctioned nuclear-weapons developer, involved in drone production.It is unclear whether the cargo shown in the video is the only shipment that Spanish police and customs officers detained during their two-year investigation into illicit trafficking of dual-use goods. Spanish authorities have not released the names of the individuals or companies suspected in the case, and Spanish police did not respond to RFE/RL’s inquiry about what substance or substances were seized in the October raid in the port of Barcelona. The full story, with background information about previous chemical purchases and intercepts can be read here https://www.rferl.org/a/33313478.html ", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "CBRNe World Magazine", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/images/default/Asset%201.png" } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zoe Rutherford", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/spain-uncovers-tons-of-chemicals-destined-for-russia" }, "datePublished": "2025-02-25T10:38:54+00:00", "dateCreated": "2025-02-25T10:38:54+00:00", "dateModified": "2025-02-25T10:38:54+00:00" } ```