After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the West stepped up efforts to cut revenue from Russian oil and gas, in which US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, and the European Union (EU) committed to completely ending Russian gas imports before November 2027.
However, there is a Russian energy sector that has almost not been subjected to major sanctions: Nuclear power.
Sebastian Stier - author of the chapter "Russian Nuclear Dependence" in the 2025 World Nuclear Industry Report - commented: "The scale of the nuclear industry is not as large as the oil and gas industry, so it has not been paid much attention to so far.
According to analysis by DW and expert opinions, Russia has gradually expanded its global nuclear presence through the state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom and its subsidiaries.
Russia not only provides technology but also finances and exports package solutions for nuclear power plants, from infrastructure construction to providing nuclear steam supply systems, the core part that helps generate electricity.
According to Rosatom's 2024 operating report, revenue from overseas projects increased by 10% compared to the same period, reaching 18 billion USD.
However, this figure is still smaller than revenue from Russian oil and gas. Also in 2024, despite sanctions, Russia still exported oil and gas worth more than 6 times its nuclear revenue.
Although financial contributions are modester than oil and gas, the role of the Russian nuclear industry cannot be assessed solely based on revenue.
After the conflict broke out in Ukraine in 2022, Finland canceled its contract with Rosatom. However, in many other places, nuclear projects backed by Russia continue. Typical examples are the Rooppur plant in Bangladesh, El Dabaa in Egypt and Balkhash in Kazakhstan. Even within the European Union, Hungary's Paks II project continues to be built. In Turkey, the Akkuyu project also does not stop.
According to expert Stier, this is the result of a long-term strategy to gain a firm foothold in these markets.
Professor Hartmut Winkler (University of Johannesburg, South Africa) - co-author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report since 2023 - said that Russia is actively promoting nuclear power, even in countries with limited electricity demand.
In Africa, in July 2025, Rosatom signed a nuclear cooperation memorandum of understanding with the military government in Niger. Similar agreements were also signed with Burkina Faso and Mali.
These agreements are mainly long-term strategic, with the ultimate goal of building a nuclear power plant, although it is still very far from becoming a reality.
Mark Hibbs - senior expert at the Carnegie Institute's Nuclear Policy Program - said that in nuclear policy, Russia promotes itself as a different partner from the West. Russia emphasizes itself as a "truthful trading partner", not imposing political views on countries that want to develop economy and technology.
In September 2025, President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed this message at World Atomic Week, expressing support for the nuclear ambitions of countries in the "global East and South", while rejecting the concept of "technological colonialism".
According to Mr. Hibbs, the former Soviet Union had built a solid professional foundation in the nuclear field and the post-Soviet Russian government clearly understood that this was a strategic asset to help maintain and expand influence in the international arena.
