Another attempt by the Kremlin to demonstrate its power on the international stage and build an alternative logistics route has ended in failure. The ambitious maritime connection between Vladivostok and the Indian port of Chennai, which was announced with much fanfare back in 2019, has effectively been halted. The reason is simple: Russia’s port infrastructure proved technologically incapable of supporting this route.
Russia’s Minister of Transport Andrey Nikitin, in a letter to Putin, admitted that Russian transport operators showed no interest in the project at all. It turned out that the port of Vladivostok lacks terminals for transshipment of oil, liquefied natural gas, and fertilizers — exactly the goods India needs.
For years, Moscow has claimed it is ready to become a “new logistics hub,” but it has failed to build even basic facilities for handling its own raw materials in the Far East. So despite talk of a “pivot to the East,” Russia is essentially standing still.
In the 2025/26 fiscal year (April 1 – March 31), total trade turnover between Russia and India fell by 12.8% to $59.86 billion. Indian exports to Russia decreased by 7.9%, while imports from Russia fell by 13.2%.
To justify the cancellation of the project, Russian officials are now proposing an absurd idea — linking this route to the Trans-Arctic corridor, which would only make logistics more expensive and complicated.
Once again, Russia has demonstrated that it is an unreliable partner, capable only of making loud political declarations that are not backed by real economic capacity.
