Russian weapons use American chips, how does Russia import chips from the US?
Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia. However, large quantities of American-made chips have been found in Russian military weapons discovered on the battlefield, making it clear that Russian suppliers are finding some way around strict import restrictions and trade bans.
Russia's Military Buying US Chips From Texas Instruments Despite Sanctions - Bloomberg
Alarming amount of Texas Instrument chips found in Russian-based weapons in Ukraine — Russian military using third parties to purchase US-made chips | Tom's Hardware
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and the European Union (EU) introduced export controls (PDF file) on several products, electronic equipment and technologies that are 'priority items' used in or needed to manufacture Russian weapons.
However, an investigation by foreign media outlet Bloomberg has revealed that a major Russian distributor purchased hundreds of thousands of products worth approximately $6 million (approximately 900 million yen) from Texas Instruments, a major American semiconductor manufacturer, between January 2024 and August 2024. It has also been shown that $4 million (approximately 600 million yen) of these products went to Russian defense companies.
As a result, Texas Instruments products are used in Russian drones, glide bombs, precision communication systems, ballistic missiles, and other weapons. Furthermore, it has been revealed that approximately 14% of the parts of Russian weapons seized by Ukrainian authorities since the invasion of Ukraine were made by Texas Instruments.
According to Bloomberg, these distributors have set up their own websites using APIs that Texas Instruments has made available to online shops, which can display product and inventory information. The websites are available on domains such as 'getchips.ru' and 'altchips.ru', but these sites are only accessible within Russia, and an error screen will be displayed if accessed from Japan or Western countries. Texas Instruments has denied any involvement, saying, 'We do not provide APIs to Russian companies or websites.'
Products ordered from these online shops are shipped from Texas Instruments through various intermediaries and paper companies, and finally to Russia from third countries such as Hong Kong. At a hearing of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held in September 2024, Texas Instruments was criticized for 'failing to prevent Russia from using its technology' and 'loose management of online sales' (PDF file) .
'Exporting high-tech chips and microelectronics technology to Russia, either directly or through third parties, carries the risk that this technology could be used for weapons,' said Thomas Withington, an associate professor at the Royal Institute for Defence and Security Studies, a British think tank. 'It is essential that the United States and its allies continue to monitor exports of microelectronics technology to third parties.'
Texas Instruments commented, 'We invest significant time and resources to prevent our products from reaching Russia and are constantly improving our policies and procedures to combat unauthorized military diversion.' In addition, Texas Instruments reviews an average of more than 4 million orders each year and cancels thousands of orders for which reliability is a concern. Shannon Thompson, assistant general counsel at Texas Instruments, said, 'Texas Instruments strongly opposes the use of Texas Instruments products in Russian-made weapons. All shipments of Texas Instruments products to Russia are unauthorized and illegal. We are working hard to prevent Texas Instruments parts from being illegally diverted to Russia. All divisions of our company take this situation seriously.'
By Tony Webster
According to Bloomberg, it is illegal to directly or knowingly export these export-restricted products, including Texas Instruments products, to Russia, but exports to many other countries are not explicitly prohibited, which complicates checks and makes liability unclear when products pass through multiple jurisdictions before arriving in Russia.
Kim Dobanon of the Atlantic Council, a US think tank, pointed out that 'American companies need to comply with government export control regulations and carefully manage their exposure in accordance with US laws and regulations.' In addition, Vladislav Vlasyuk, Ukraine's sanctions commissioner, said, 'As long as terrorist states like Russia can use Western technology, distributors will continue to procure parts for weapons. There is still more that can be done, such as stricter export controls, compliance procedures, and active cooperation from third countries.'
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