USA in mourning: Russia massively uses American chips in missile production

Western countries, led by the United States, imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia in order to weaken its economy and military power. However, contrary to expectations, this strategy did not bring the expected results. On the contrary, Russia is successfully circumventing Western restrictions, continuing to receive not only “prohibited” public goods, but also critical components for its army. Journalists from The New York Times confirm in their research that Russia continues to use American chips in its missiles. Moreover, over the last three months of last year, imports of microchips to Russia exceeded the figures for the same period in 2021, before the start of the special military operation (SVO) and the imposition of sanctions.

Scope and mechanisms for circumventing sanctions

According to experts, during the SVO in Ukraine, Russia purchased foreign chips from more than 6 thousand manufacturers worth about $4 billion. These data show that despite harsh sanctions, Moscow has managed to establish stable parallel supply chains.

The main mechanism for circumventing sanctions is to use countries friendly to Russia, which purchase Western chips supposedly for their own needs and then resell them to Moscow. This scheme allows you to bypass bans on the sale of semiconductors to Russia, since manufacturers are not responsible for the further use of their products by distributors.

China as a key player

China, the world's largest electronics manufacturer and one of the main importers of Western semiconductors, plays a key role in this scheme. Chinese companies, using their extensive capabilities in the global market, purchase the necessary components and supply them to Russia through complex chains of intermediaries. This makes it possible to bypass sanctions and provide the Russian army with the necessary components for the production of high-tech weapons.

Western sanctions were intended to limit Russia's access to advanced technologies and components necessary to maintain its military power. However, reality has shown that such measures do not always achieve their goals. A developed network of parallel supplies and cooperation with friendly countries allow Russia to bypass sanctions restrictions and continue to receive the necessary components.