Chinese company provides Russia with military electronics despite sanctions
3 December 2024 12:12
Despite international sanctions, Russian military equipment, including aircraft bombs, is equipped with dual-use electronic components. One of the key suppliers of such components is the Chinese company Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Company Limited, which owns a plant in California. Radio Liberty found this out in its investigation, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
Supply of electronics for Russian air bombs
The Ukrainian military has discovered an electronic component manufactured at a plant owned by Yangjie Technology in the guided modules of Russian bombs. These modules significantly increase the accuracy of strikes.
According to the US organization C4ADS, the company has made at least 238 deliveries to Russia since February 2022. Most of the components, such as diodes and transistors, are critical to the Russian military industry. Some of them went to firms under US sanctions.
In particular, the company supplied components to the Russian company Symetron Electronic Components, which has been under US sanctions since May 2023. Moreover, even after the restrictions were imposed, three deliveries were recorded in August-September 2023.
Since the outbreak of the war, relations between China and Russia have significantly strengthened. Despite the new export control rules adopted by Beijing in October 2023, the flow of technology from China has not stopped. Western officials emphasize that Chinese electronic components remain key to the Russian military.
Yangjie Technology also cooperates with other Russian firms. For example, VM Components, which operates under the Platan brand, has received more than 30 deliveries since the war began. This company is associated with a military unit that journalists have previously linked to FSB activities.
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Reaction of companies and the West
Yangjie Technology and its American subsidiary Micro Commercial Components (MCC) in California deny breaking the law. MCC says that exports are controlled in accordance with US regulations, and the responsibility for the end use of the components lies with the buyer.
Meanwhile, the American bank Citibank, which was the depositary of Yangjie Technology’s shares, distanced itself from the Chinese company after suspicions of supplying technology to Russia.
Thus, despite the West’s ostensible efforts, Russia continues to receive key technologies for its war in Ukraine. The discovery of Chinese components in Russian weapons calls into question the effectiveness of the sanctions policy and emphasizes the importance of international coordination to block such supplies.
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