Russia is still buying vast quantities of the Western-made military components it needs to continue to attack Ukraine, a new investigation has revealed. Despite sanctions prohibiting the direct sale of US, UK and EU-made microchips to Russia, the Kremlin has still been able to purchase “millions” of the chips it needs to fire missiles, and deploy drones and howitzers, the Kyiv Independent has reported.
Vladimir Putin’s military has been able to rely on imports of microchips from China, Hong Kong and others, with Western firms continuing to sell to companies in those countries who then sell the chips on to Russia. This comes days after the UK government announced a fresh wave of 107 sanctions – its “largest sanctions package since the early days of the invasion” – on February 25.
The new sanctions, much like the ones that have come before, target “Russia’s military machine, entities in third countries who support it and the fragile supply networks that it relies on”, the Foreign Office said.
But, despite all the measures imposed on Russia, the Kyiv Independent said it was able to purchase American microchips from a Russian company, posing as a Russian defence procurer. It also discovered the enormous stocks of chips that Russian companies have been able to acquire.
Posing as an employee from the Russian defence company Almaz, the outlet approached 12 Russian suppliers of US chips. Ten replied, the outlet reported, and confirmed they were able to deliver the chips.
Three of the Russian companies – Modern Digital Technologies, Electromir, and Imotek – responded by offering chips made by US firms Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, and Atmel manufactured from 2022-2024, after the full-scale invasion was launched. Another Russian company is reported to have responded with a comprehensive list of all of their warehouse stock, which the outlet reported showed “millions” of US and EU-made chips.
James Byrne of the UK-based think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told the Kyiv Independent: “If you’re Texas Instruments or Intel, you have large distributors. The distributors sell components to all sorts of entities all over the world.
“Let’s say you sell to some distributor in Hong Kong, and then they sell to another entity in Hong Kong, and that entity ships them to the Russians. I think it’s a difficult problem to solve, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
A spokesperson for Analog Devices Inc. said: “We at ADI strongly condemn the illicit diversion and unintended misuse of our products (…) We continue to look for ways to identify and prevent third-party attempts to engage in unauthorised resale, diversion, or misuse of our products or technology.”
Texas Instruments said: “Any shipments of TI chips into Russia are illicit and unauthorised. It is our policy to comply with export control laws, and we require our customers and distributors to do so the same. If there is evidence indicating diversion, we investigate and take action.”
Intel Corporation said: “Intel is diligently working to track and mitigate the potential diversion of our products, including actively coordinating with non-governmental organisations, the US and other governments to identify and stop this activity.”