Russia scrambles for microchips needed to bombard Ukraine and finds ways to circumvent sanctions

The first Russian massive missile attack on Ukraine in 2023 resulted in the Dnipro tragedy. 

A Russian Kh-22 anti-ship cruise missile struck a nine-storey apartment building, killing at least 46 people and injuring more than 70. 

To prevent Russian weapons manufacturers, including high-precision missiles and drones, from accessing Western electronics, Europe and the US imposed a total embargo when the Kremlin started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

However, Russia still continues to manufacture weapons with Western technology and use them in war against Ukrainians. Moreover, the flow of chips has increased due to gray trade and re-exports from other countries.

The Insight News Media project analyzed why Western electronics are still at the heart of Russia’s war machine.

In August 2022 the UK’s Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (RUSI) published a report. The Institute’s experts analyzed the technical design and construction of 27 types of advanced Russian weapons, military and special-purpose equipment used since February 2022 in the war against Ukraine: cruise missiles, UAVs, electronic warfare (EW) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) platforms, and tanks.

A Kh-59MK air-to-surface guided missile, a Kh-101 cruise missile, a 9M727 (R-500) cruise missile, a 9M723 tactical missile for the Iskander system, a 9M549 guided rocket for the Tornado-S rocket launcher, an Orlan-10 drone, a T-72B3M tank, an Azart digital radio station, and a Borisoglebsk-2 electronic warfare system were among them. 

RUSI experts discovered 450 different microelectronic products manufactured by companies in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The vast majority of them, 317, have American origin. They are followed by Japan (34 products), Taiwan (30 products), and Switzerland (14). Some of them are from the late 1980s. Others, on the other hand, were made in 2018 and 2019 after the US and EU imposed sanctions on exporting sensitive technology to Russia.

A similar analysis of the electronics in Russian weapons used in combat operations in Ukraine, such as Ka-52 helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and communications equipment, was released in September 2022 by experts from the British nonprofit Conflict Armament Research (CAR). They were able to identify and describe 650 samples of microelectronic goods manufactured by 144 companies outside of Russia. Many of the items were made public after 2014, when Russia was already subject to sanctions, and some in 2021.

In its review of military equipment supplies from NATO countries to Russia, the American NGO Robert Lansing Institute (RLI) emphasizes the wide range and diversity of the of Western hardware components present in the products of Russia's military industry. This includes not only missiles and aircraft, but also individual items such as binoculars, rangefinders, thermal sights, and the Ratnik infantry combat system.

The findings of RUSI, CAR, and RLI regarding Russian weaponry and equipment's dependence on Western electronics are consistent with reports provided by Ukrainian military and volunteers, who release information to the media or publish data on seized Russian weaponry and equipment on a regular basis.

Deadly electronics

During the nine months of the war, Russia launched more than 16,000 missiles and artillery shells at Ukraine. The major threat is posed by high-precision missiles. According to Ukrainian Defense Ministry estimates, Russian troops fired nearly 4,500 missiles between February 23, 2022, and January 3, 2023, including:

· 1,328 anti-aircraft guided missiles for S-300 systems

· 744 9M723 tactical missiles

· 638 Kh-29, Kh-31, Kh-35, Kh-58, and Kh-59 aircraft missiles

· 616 Kh-101, Kh-555, Kh-55SM strategic cruise missiles

· 591 sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles

· 208 Kh-22/32 aircraft missiles

· 144 Oniks anti-ship missiles

· 68 9M728/9M729 cruise missiles

· 10 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.

Many of these long-range missiles rely on foreign microchips to power their onboard systems, which handle systematic targeting and in-flight control. As a result, officials and experts in Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union have repeatedly predicted that Russia will run out of high-precision missiles, due to a lack of access to the components required for their manufacturing since unprecedented sanctions on electronic exports were imposed in the spring of 2022.

RUSI estimates, however, that 81 of the 450 microelectronic components detected in Russian munitions fall under the US classification of dual-use commodities and would consequently need a separate license.

Microprocessors, microcontrollers, Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) enable the customization of integrated microcircuits for specific tasks. They are the most sought-after items in the Russian military sector.

The employment of electronic components in sensors, navigational systems, and optical and cryptographic apparatus is widespread. Even weaponry that appears to be low-tech, such as armored battle vehicles, mainly relies on Western technology. Russian BMD-4Ms fired at civilians fleeing from Bucha during the tragic events in Kyiv with great precision thanks to sighting devices made by the French company Thales, including a thermal imager and range finder, Insight News reports.

How the Kremlin evades Western sanctions

Russia is really able to produce some domestic equivalents to Western technology or procure them from neutral or friendly countries. 

However, according to Reuters, only 242 of the 921 foreign components needed to start production of a helicopter-mounted electronic warfare system have domestic equivalents. Even the Sarmat strategic intercontinental ballistic missile, which Vladimir Putin and Kremlin propaganda are attempting to scare the West with, may contain some foreign components.

A Russian list of international microelectronics requirements was published by Politico in September 2022. The "urgent need" category includes 25 American, Japanese, and German chips; some have disappeared from the market due to a worldwide shortage of semiconductors, not sanctions.

In any case, the missile attacks on Ukrainian territory have continued. The most recent waves of attacks employed cruise missiles that had only recently been produced. This could confirm the claims that Russia has exhausted all of its missile arsenals. It may also demonstrate the success of Russia's military industry, which has continued to produce technologically advanced items despite sanctions and export control policies.

Russian importers successfully circumvent all restrictions by using intermediaries, incorporating consumer electronics into military products, swapping out foreign microchips for hopelessly out-of-date but functional Soviet components, purposefully selecting less-advanced foreign models over more-advanced ones, engaging in industrial espionage, and re-exporting through third parties.

According to Ukrainian experts, Russian manufacturers have discovered a way to incorporate home appliance chips even into "complex systems" such as the onboard computers of high-precision missiles. The Chinese online store AliExpress, for example, sells the microcircuits and microcontrollers discovered by researchers in the guidance unit of a 9M544 missile for the Tornado-S MLRS.

Last but not least, regular imports are Russia's primary source of electronics for the military industry. Since April 2022, the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS) has withheld comprehensive import and export data, presumably to make predicting the effects of Western sanctions on high-tech products and electronic components more difficult. 

Reuters discovered nearly 15,000 transactions involving Russia's imports of Western electronics from AMD, Analog Devices, Infineon, Intel, Texas Instruments, and other companies in Russian customs files from February 24 to late May.

The case with Russian weapons is not the only sign that the Western sanctions regime is failing to achieve its goals. The Iranian Geran-1 and Geran-2 ‘kamikaze’ drones downed by Ukrainians were examined by CAR. The experts not only confirmed that the drones (originally named Shahed 131 and Shahed 136) were developed in Iran rather than Russia, but they also discovered a massive amount of Western electronics.

If Iran, which has been under sanctions for decades, can maintain a steady supply of Western electronics for arms production, Russia, which is still much more present in the global market, has no money troubles so far, and can influence foreign politicians and companies through informal networks, is even less likely to have problems in this regard.

Attempts to deprive a large country of microelectronic products face significant challenges. As long as the war in Ukraine continues and no solution is found to halt these supplies, American and European chips will continue to aid in the killing of Ukrainians. 

A solution would entail a complete prohibition on all methods of circumventing sanctions, as well as harsh penalties for those who assist the Russian regime in obtaining electronics to be used in armaments, Insight News analysts conclude.