The Vitebsk Radio Components Plant Monolit produces and supplies capacitors to Russia’s defense industry, with profits soaring nearly sixfold since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, according to a joint investigation by Slidstvo.Info, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Belarus Service, and the Belarusian Investigative Center. While the plant was hit with Ukrainian sanctions in May 2023, it faces no economic restrictions from the EU or the US.
From February 2022 to March 2025, Monolit shipped $40 million worth of goods to Russia’s Spets-Elektronkomplekt, a major supplier of electronic components to Russia’s Ministry of Defense and its military-industrial complex, the investigation found.
Over 96% of these shipments were ceramic capacitors, essential for stabilizing voltage in microcircuits by storing electricity for minor power disruptions. Monolit supplied Spets-Elektronkomplekt with scarce K10-84 capacitors, which Russia does not produce domestically. Monolit’s website confirms it develops and manufactures this model.
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According to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, these capacitors are widely used in military radioelectronics, including Russia’s S-200 and S-300 missiles. An anonymous Ukrainian electronics expert, speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Belarus Service, said Monolit’s capacitors have been repeatedly found in various Russian weapons, including Iskander, Kalibr, and Kh-101 missiles.
Journalists identified the factory’s equipment through photos in Belarusian state media. Monolit uses machines from Slovenia’s KEKO Equipment Ltd, heat treatment furnaces from Germany’s Nabertherm GmbH and Japan’s Pro-face by Schneider Electric, part of France’s Schneider Electric SE.
Monolit’s profits surged from $1.4 million in 2021 to nearly $6.2 million in 2024, following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
