Among the countries whose components were found in Russian missiles are China, South Korea, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Taiwan, the USA and others.
Andrey Kostin
Russian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles contain foreign components produced in at least 19 countries.
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, stated this during a meeting on preventing the illegal circulation of sensitive technologies, which was held in The Hague at Eurojust, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office writes.
The conference participants were looking for a solution to deprive Russia of access to modern technologies that it uses to create conditions unsuitable for Ukrainians to live in.
“The missiles and drones that Russia uses for daily attacks on peaceful cities and towns in Ukraine contain foreign components produced in at least 19 countries. These are China, South Korea, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Taiwan, the USA and others,” noted Andrei Kostin.
The Prosecutor General emphasized that it is extremely important to develop a comprehensive policy to prevent the illegal trafficking of technologies and strengthen liability mechanisms for those involved in such activities.
An integral part of these efforts should be the criminalization of transportation, sale, purchase, delivery or other actions related to the supply of technological goods to sanctioned entities and individuals.
Kostin noted that Ukraine highly values the work of the Disruptive Technology Strike Force , created by the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Commerce, as well as sanctions imposed by the European Union, US, UK and Japan regarding dual-use goods and modern technologies that the Russian defense industry may use.
Ukraine also welcomes the 14th EU sanctions package, which restricts the export of nine additional dual-use goods and advanced technologies and introduces stricter restrictions on 61 economic entities based in Russia and third countries.
The Prosecutor General thanked Eurojust and personally President Ladislav Hamran, the US Department of Justice and Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders and all participants and organizers of the meeting.
Civilian components in Russian missiles
- Although sanctions have denied Russia access to a number of advanced components, the Kremlin's defense sector uses processors and other technologies not intended for military use. Such “civilian components” lack the robustness and protection typically required of military electronics.
- A Ukrainian analysis of the Kh-101 in January showed 16 pieces of Western-made electronics inside the missile. Two components were manufactured by STMicroelectronics, headquartered in Switzerland, and the rest were manufactured by American chip manufacturers, including Texas Instruments, Analog Devices and Intel.
- All products are primarily intended for for civilian use – some are quite old. A Financial Times analysis of Russian documents shows how Russian companies in 2023 were able to obtain spare parts identical to those used by the X-101 simply by buying them on the open market and importing them through China. Although the documents indicate that the parts were made by Western manufacturers, they were all produced in China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan or Thailand. Analysts say the failure rate of Russian cruise missiles could be as high as 20% because smuggled components can cause inaccurate guidance, fail to cope with the rigors of subsonic flight, or prevent launch entirely. Kiev children's hospital “Okhmatdyt” is based on Western components, which indicates the Kremlin's success in evading sanctions.