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Beyond Oil and Gas: How Russia Uses Nuclear Power as Geopolitical Leverage
At a glance
- •Sanctions have focused on Russian oil and gas, but nuclear energy remains a less-targeted avenue of influence.
- •Rosatom offers turnkey projects, financing and long-term fuel services that create durable client dependencies.
- •Nuclear revenues are much smaller than hydrocarbon earnings, but the long-term nature of contracts gives Russia strategic leverage.
- •Buyers in parts of the Global South continue to choose Russian nuclear technology for commercial and practical reasons.
- •Policy responses to Russian influence should consider the different mechanisms of leverage embedded in nuclear partnerships.
Beyond oil and gas: Russia's nuclear leverage explained
Western efforts to choke off Moscow's revenues from hydrocarbons have been a central pillar of sanctions since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Measures range from punitive tariffs on buyers of Russian oil to the European Union's pledge to phase out Russian gas by November 2027. Yet one important channel of Russian influence has attracted far less attention: civilian nuclear energy.
Russia, through its state-controlled nuclear firm Rosatom and its subsidiaries, has been steadily expanding its footprint in the Global South and beyond. Unlike oil and gas, nuclear services including plant construction, fuel supply, and long-term maintenance contracts are smaller in absolute revenue terms. But they are strategically significant. Long-term technical partnerships, multiyear fuel supply deals and the transfer of nuclear technology create durable dependencies that can translate into political and economic leverage over client states.
Experts stress that nuclear business is not on the same scale as hydrocarbon exports. Sebastian Stier, author of the Russia Nuclear Interdependencies chapter in the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2025, notes that nuclear earnings pale in comparison to oil and gas revenues. Still, those revenues are meaningful for Moscow and have proven resilient to the kinds of sanctions that have disrupted other sectors. Nuclear contracts often circumvent immediate price shocks because they are negotiated as comprehensive packages combining financing, construction, training and fuel services and because projects span decades.
Countries seeking to expand electricity capacity or diversify away from fossil fuels have continued to engage with Russian nuclear technology despite geopolitical costs. For many buyers, the attraction is practical: Rosatom frequently offers competitive financing, turnkey projects and integrated service guarantees. Those commercial incentives, combined with political calculus and limited supplier options in some regions, explain why Russia's nuclear reach continues to grow.
While the volumes and direct revenues from nuclear exports are modest relative to oil and gas, the structure of the nuclear business long-term commitments and technical integration gives Russia a different, often subtler form of geopolitical influence. Policymakers weighing sanctions and energy partnerships need to account for these durable ties when assessing Russia's global leverage and the long-term implications for energy security.