Nearly 70% of foreign components found in Russian UAVs come from Western countries. Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has revealed how it's possible to 'cut off the oxygen' to Russian military factories.
He noted that the international sanctions group led by Macfarland-Yermak has studied 174 foreign components used in Russian drones and found that Russia is still heavily dependent on foreign-made components, particularly microelectronics.
The main issue is that some of these components can still be purchased on the open market. Russians use circumvention methods through third countries, one-day shell companies, and many other tricks to buy Western components. To effectively 'cut off the oxygen' to Russian drone manufacturers, the Macfarland-Yermak group proposed the following:
- Standardize the sanctions lists of all coalition countries.
- Expand the categories of prohibited goods to Russia for easier monitoring of sanctions compliance.
- Enhance collaboration between manufacturers of key components and governments.
- Manufacturers should take responsibility to ensure their products do not end up in Russian weaponry.
- Apply anti-money laundering mechanisms to export control measures, as evading sanctions often involves similar patterns as money laundering
Russia continues to manufacture Ka-52 helicopters using modern technologies. According to Andriy Yermak, the aggressor country circumvents sanctions and finds the necessary components for its military equipment.
Based on journalistic investigations, Russia imports almost any sanctioned goods in sufficient quantities without significant issues in supporting its military production. In just the last six months, Russia imported prohibited chips from Western companies worth over half a billion dollars. These chips are used in the production of missiles and other weapons.
