Western electronics go to Russia via China. It is difficult for the United States to intervene in the activities of companies engaged in illegal trade.
The New York Times operates in Hong Kong statement including companies that facilitate the illegal trade of Western technology to Russia.
The companies have exported millions of microchips and sensors to Russian military technology companies. Many of these Russian companies are subject to US sanctions, according to NYT’s article.
According to the article, since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, restricted microchips worth around 3.7 billion euros have flowed to Russia from more than 6,000 companies.
Among other things, Olax Finance and Rikkon Holding, located in Hong Kong, are companies that act as an intermediary between US research laboratories and the Russian military.
Operators establish new illegal trading companies as quickly as Western countries catch the previous ones.
The United States has no means to intervene
According to the article, Russia’s ability to defy Western trade restrictions is an indication that the West, led by the United States, has failed to respond to Russia’s war of aggression.
The U.S. does not have the manufacturing capacity for manufacturing, packaging, and assembly, so the country has little choice but to ship components to China.
China says in a statement from its foreign ministry that the country does not supply weapons or equipment to the parties to Russia’s war of aggression. Industry experts, on the other hand, say that China can export Western electronic components and assembled electronics to Russia easily.
– We have lost control of chip production, comments an economist from a US think tank Elina Ribakova.
Western chips in Russian missiles
The United States imposed heavy sanctions on Russia shortly after Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine.
Still, the missiles of Russia’s July attacks on a children’s hospital in Kyiv contained electronics from US microchip companies, according to Ukraine’s national anti-corruption agency.
Russia now gets the western technology it needs through China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. According to the NYT article, Russia also tried to start domestic chip production in 2020, but it largely failed.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to NYT’s request for an interview on the subject.