Map the dependency
Identify a material, component, or capability the target regime cannot produce at scale. Trace the global supply from producer to intermediary to end user.
A project of Anti-Corruption Action
We don't need a war
to stop a war.
The Dekleptocracy Project is a research program of Anti-Corruption Action. We use anti-corruption methods to find the chemicals, parts and money that Russia's war cannot do without. Each one is a lever the West can pull without firing a shot.
4
global producers of a single chemical Russia's army needs
59
pages of vulnerabilities in our latest study
6
field notes on the weak points in Russia's supply chain
Mission
Most Americans want Ukraine free.
So do we.
The Dekleptocracy Project is a research program of Anti-Corruption Action, a Virginia 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We find the foreign suppliers Russia's war economy cannot replace. Then we put that evidence in front of the governments that write sanctions, the prosecutors who enforce them and the journalists who cover them.
Washington's posture toward Moscow may shift with every administration. Ours does not. A free Ukraine is the firewall that protects every other free society from a kleptocratic order spreading east to west.
We are researchers. Our tools are open-source financial and supply-chain analysis, the same tools that uncover money laundering. They map where Russia's war machine depends on a handful of foreign suppliers. Each dependency is a lever the West can pull without escalation.
“Violating sanctions is, in practice, money laundering. Money laundering is something we are very good at finding.”
Research
Vulnerabilities in the Russian Chemical Industry
By Andrew Fink for The Dekleptocracy Project · February 2026
Russia exports oil. Russia cannot refine it on its own. The catalysts, additives and feedstocks that turn crude into gasoline, jet fuel, lubricants and tire rubber are made at industrial scale by a small number of firms worldwide. Several are not in Russia.
Our study traces those dependencies node by node. It names the producers, the intermediaries and the trading firms. The same method applies anywhere a hostile state relies on materials it cannot make. The chemical industry is the first case. It will not be the last.
Refining catalysts
The substances that crack crude oil into usable fuels. Russia does not manufacture them at scale.
Lubricant additives
Without them, modern engines and tanks seize. Global production is concentrated in a handful of firms.
Tire and rubber inputs
Military logistics run on tires. Tires run on chemistry Russia imports.
Trade-layer intermediaries
Firms in third countries that re-route restricted goods. Each is a discrete enforcement target.
Ongoing
The method extends beyond chemistry.
We are always working on projects like this one. We record what we learn as we go: which signals worked, which trade routes shifted, which sanctions had teeth and which did not. Each project becomes a public report and a playbook for the next authoritarian supply chain.
Methodology
Bringing accountability to Putin's enablers.
Violating sanctions is, in practice, money laundering, and we are experts at catching money launderers. We use sanctions law as the legal backstop that brings consequences to the companies profiting from Russia's invasion.
Find the chokepoints
Concentrate on nodes where production is held by a handful of firms or routed through a small number of trading houses. These are pressure points.
Follow the money
Sanctions evasion looks, on paper, exactly like money laundering. Apply standard anti-money-laundering techniques to surface beneficial owners, shell companies and shadow fleets.
Publish, equip, defend
Deliver the evidence to enforcement bodies, journalists, allied governments and the public. Each disclosure narrows the regime’s options without firing a weapon.
Why this matters beyond Ukraine.
The same approach works against any regime whose economy depends on goods it cannot produce. The leverage it creates is an alternative to military escalation. The cost is the cost of researchers and analysts, a fraction of one cruise missile.
- Identify chokepoints before they become flashpoints.
- Equip allies with named targets, not vague calls for sanctions.
- Turn private research into public accountability.
- Build a playbook that outlives any single administration.
Field Notes
From the research desk.
Short essays naming the chokepoints, intermediaries and enablers keeping Russia's war machine supplied.
The Dekleptocracy Project
FSO Umar
Kremlev is more than just an oligarch.
Read the postSeptember 11, 2026
The Quiet Battle Against Russia's Shadow Fleet
August 20, 2026
Beware Russia's Fake Parties
The point of all of this
Russia runs on Western technology.
Russia cannot produce the basic technology its own war machine depends on. It has to buy it from the West. The people and companies selling that technology to Moscow profit from the invasion. That flow of goods is what we exist to interrupt.
Press
In the press.
Monthly ChosunOctober 19, 2026
Exclusive: A major Korean builder shipped turbine oil to Russia
Monthly Chosun's Korean-language exclusive on DL E&C's turbine-oil shipment to Russia's Amur Gas Chemical Complex quotes The Dekleptocracy Project on why an export license and a civilian end user do not shield the banks behind the deal from U.S. secondary sanctions.
Read the articleNewsweekMay 22, 2026
Revealed: The Indian Firm Quietly Shipping Key Chemicals to Russia
Newsweek's investigation into Reliance Industries' refinery-catalyst exports to Russia drew on data shared with The Dekleptocracy Project and our translation of Russia's priority chemicals list.
Read the articleThe GuardianNovember 27, 2025
West is missing obscure sanctions that could set back Russia's war machine
The Guardian on the research approach behind The Dekleptocracy Project.
Read the articleReutersSeptember 5, 2024
US imposes sanctions on companies, vessels linked to Arctic LNG 2
Reuters on the U.S. sanctions against Arctic LNG 2, the project our research helped shut down.
Read the articleMore coverage is collected at Anti-Corruption Action.
Support the Work
Help Ukraine win.
Fund the research.
Every dollar funds the analysts, attorneys and investigators who trace the supply chains that keep Russia's war machine running and name the firms behind them. The Dekleptocracy Project is a program of Anti-Corruption Action, a Virginia 501(c)(3). Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Slava Ukraini
Field Notes by Email
Get the next chokepoint in your inbox.
New research, named enablers, sanctions analysis and notes from the desk, sent only when we have something worth your time. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
We will never share your email. A program of Anti-Corruption Action, a Virginia 501(c)(3).