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

- This may look like a junkyard, but we're actually outside a specialized forensics laboratory in Kiev where experts examine debris from Russian munitions. (expert speaks in foreign language) 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. (expert speaks in foreign language) Despite Western sanctions, Russia continues 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 Kiev laboratory for examination. And what experts discover provides a glimpse into how Russia's military relies on Western technology to build its weapons. (Andriy speaks in foreign language) But according to the lab, American ships 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 microelectronics whether those are from the stock sourced prior to 2022 invasion or whether those microelectronics were obtained after Vladimir Putin launched his full scale invasion of Ukraine. - [Ian] To reduce Russia's ability to churn 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 C4ADS, a global security nonprofit, Western chips 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 microelectronics are coming from China. Now, these are dual-use items, but we know very clearly where so many of them are going. - [Ian] Western companies say the items are being imported by Russia without their permission. Both Intel, which owns Alterra, and Analog Devices, another major US chip maker, said they didn't do business in Russia and had fully 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 expose themselves to the risk of US sanctions. - [Ian] 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 manufacturing machinery from the West, which we do know that the Russian defense industry are highly reliant on, and this is a point of where their war economy can be disrupted. - [Ian] 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 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. - [Ian] Many Russia observers agree that the country's economy won't be able to sustain a war footing for years on end. (Andriy speaks in foreign language) But concern is growing that without additional Western support and effective dual-use sanctions, it will 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 save more lives rather than wait until more people die and then the Russian war economy crumbles down. (gentle music)

Channel: The Wall Street Journal

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Keywords: russia, ukraine, russia ukraine war, russia news, moscow, ukraine news, kyiv, ukrainian lab, us chips, us chips in russian missiles, russian weapons, russia arms, war update, war in ukraine, wsj, rusi, british defense, think tank, artillery shells, ukraine war, kyiv lab, russian zircon missile, iran, china, russia allies, russian allies, microelectronics, Microchips, C4ADS, turkey, uae, the maldives, china russia, Intel, altera, russian war machine, sanctions, manufacturing, export, wonews

Id: LdWDgonI2yI

Length: 5min 42sec (342 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 03 2024