The Aughinish Alumina Plant in Limerick is owned by Rusal, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, with mines, refineries, and smelters across the globe. In Russia, it is the primary supplier of aluminum for the defense, transport, construction and electrical industries.
Rusal’s founder and former top shareholder is Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Customs and trade data show that since 2023, more than half (up to 70%) of the Ireland-based refinery’s alumina exports have gone to smelters in Russia also owned by Rusal.
These refineries use the Alumina to produce ceramic and Aluminum, which is in turn used to build incendiaries, drones, bombs, vehicles and electrical component insulation. Basically every bomb and drone being fired into Ukraine likely contains an element of Irish Alumina.
For every bulk carrier of Alumina, russia could hypothetically build around 12,500 shaheed drones.
In the last month, twelve bulk carriers left Aughinish and delivered their cargo to St Petersburg.
The OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) and the Irish Times released articles, dated 24th March 2026, confirming these findings and David O’Sullivan the EU Sanctions Envoy is awaiting a response from Peter Burke the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment of Ireland, who was asked to assess the matter by The Taoiseach (PM) Micheál Martin on March 25th 2026. As yet there is no indication of when this response may be available.
Previously concerns regarding the loss of jobs at the plant have been considered an issue, however Europe is about to have a shortage of this very material. Gulf smelter closures due to hostilities in the Middle East are stated as “an unbelievable threat” for European manufacturers. There will be no shortage of customers to pick up the product if it is no longer being transported directly to the russian military industrial complex.
Aluminum is largely overlooked as a critical defense mineral, even though militaries are utterly dependent on a steady supply of it. It is a foundational material for aircraft, armored vehicles, naval systems, and munitions components. More broadly, it underpins the electrical infrastructure and industrial base that makes them all possible.