Inside the Ukrainian Lab Exposing U.S. Chips in Russia’s Weapons | WSJ

Inside the Ukrainian Lab Exposing U.S. Chips in Russia’s Weapons | WSJ

[Music] this may look like a junkyard but we’re actually outside A specialized forensics laboratory in Kiev where experts examin debris from Russian Munitions drones artillery shells and missiles and what they often find in the remains of these weapons reveals why it’s so hard for Ukraine and its allies to win this war despite Western sanctions Russia continu to get its hands on Western made microchips which are helping fuel its war against Ukraine but the US may have found a new way to stop this these remains belong to a Russian Hypersonic missile it was part of moscow’s barrage on the Ukrainian capital and other regions earlier this year similar debris is brought from all over the country to this key of laboratory for examination and what experts discover provides a glimpse into how Russia’s military relies on Western technology to build its weapons but according to the lab American chips are the most common ones found rusi a British defense and security Think Tank analyzed Russian weapons systems found during the first four months of the war and what they found was that 70% of the foreign made components in those weapons came from American companies the challenge is to distinguish by looking into those micro Electronics whether those are from the stock sourced prior to 2022 Invasion or whether those micro Electronics were obtained after Vladimir Putin launched his full SC Invasion on Ukraine to reduce Russia’s ability to CH out weapons the US and its allies are trying to prevent Moscow from getting their hands on components microchips and some other dual use goods are now subject to export controls designed to stop them from finding their way into Russian weapons in response Russia has adapted by importing vital Parts via third party countries according to C4 ads a Global Security nonprofit Western ships now flow into Russia through countries like turkey the United Arab Emirates and even the Maldives but the biggest player in this trade is China 70% of the Machine Tools 90% of the micro electronics are coming from China now these are dual use items but we know very clearly where so many of them are going Western companies say the items are being imported by Russia without their permission both Intel which owns Altera and Analog Devices another major US chipmaker said they didn’t do business in Russia and had fully compl complied with export laws in the US and other countries where they work Beijing has dismissed Washington’s accusations and said that the trade with Russia is done above board but in recent months the US has put more pressure on other nations to clamp down on Dual use trade with Russia in late 2023 the White House enabled the treasury to penalize foreign banks that Aid the Russian war machine even indirectly any banks that facilitate significant transactions that channel military or dual use Goods to Russia’s defense industrial base Expos themselves to the risk of us sanctions by March Russian companies started to face difficulties transferring payments to some banks in China the UAE and turkey that same month Turkish exports to Russia fell by 28% from a year earlier military experts suggest that another effective measure is to identify and Target critical choke points in the Russian defense industry it’s much more difficult to acquire um manufacturing Machinery from the West which we do know that uh the Russia defense industry are highly reliant on and this is a point where of where their uh War economy can be disrupted in April the British defense Ministry said that a suspected malfunction of a missile in southern Russia indicated the production issues Moscow faced military experts say it’s hard to determine if Russian weapons malfunctions are due to sanctions or other issues like improper storage but they say that securing quality components is a big challenge for the Kremlin the Russian economy is exposed to additional risk of uh getting counterfeit or lower quality products probably that’s the best impact that the Western sanctions and the Western export controls have had as of today I mean many Russia observers agree that the country’s economy won’t be able to sustain a war footing for years on end but concern is growing that without additional Western support and effective dual use sanctions it would be much harder to save Ukraine at the moment there are hundreds of ukrainians who are dying at the front line under the Relentless attacks of the Russian drones and missiles and the challenge here is to prevent that from happening to to save more lives rather than wait until more uh people die and then the Russian war economy crumbles down

Despite Western sanctions, Russia keeps importing critical foreign-made components for its arms used against Ukraine. Data from RUSI, a British defense and security think-tank, reveals that 70% of foreign-made components found in 27 Russian weapons systems and military equipment used in the first four months of the war were made by American companies.

WSJ’s Ian Lovett visits a specialized forensic laboratory in Kyiv that analyzes debris from Russian munitions to find out more.

Chapters:
0:00 Russian weapons
0:39 The lab and its findings
1:56 How chips end up in Ukraine
3:11 New sanctions

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