Western components are being found in Russian drones and missiles: Are the current sanctions against Russia effective?
By Luna Oladiji
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has released reports claiming that Western components are still being found inside Russian drones and missiles, more than three and a half years after the war with Russia began. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that over 100,000 foreign-made parts were used in a single overnight drone attack on the 5th of October, including British-manufactured microcomputers, Swiss-manufactured microcontrollers, and German-manufactured switching connectors.
These are significant finds as both the Russian government itself, as well as many individuals and companies connected to the Russian government, have been subject to ever-tighter sanctions, designed to hurt the Russian war effort against Ukraine. Many western countries are also major supporters of Ukraine’s war effort, with the UK being one of the most enthusiastic in providing military aid. However, Western products have managed to find their way into Russia indirectly. While they may have been sold legally without breaking any sanctions, the products may end up in countries like China or the United Arab Emirates, which have much looser restrictions on selling goods to Russia, allowing them to be used by the Russian military. The specific components found are also highly technical components that are critical to the functioning of these military weapons.
”The specific components found are also highly technical components that are critical to the functioning of these military weapons”
President Zelenskyy has called on Western allies to “shut down every scheme that circumvents sanctions,” and has called for more effective sanctions to be put in place to further hurt the Russian government. The British Prime Minister’s office has responded that while claiming that their arms export regime was one of the “most robust in the world,” they would continue to work to ensure that components don’t continue to be used in Russia. A major way to combat this is to introduce sanctions on intermediaries that are known to sell components into Russia. However, this requires companies to invest significantly in doing more due diligence to ensure that components are not circumventing sanctions. While stricter sanctions are more common in countries like the US, where there is over 75% support for additional sanctions, countries which have historically been more reliant on Russia, such as Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, have been less politically willing to work to implement stricter sanctions, which would damage their own economies.
The US has proposed 500% tariffs on any country that buys energy from Russia, which, before the war, was the second largest producer of natural gas, and still relies on energy exports to fund its war with Ukraine. However, while the proposal, included in the “Sanctioning Russia Act”, was passed by Congress with bipartisan support, it is widely believed to be more symbolic than a policy the US intends to go through with. It would effectively remove Russian energy from the global market, raising global energy prices significantly to the detriment of many economies across the globe, including the US itself. These examples highlight the significant issues with introducing stricter sanctions on Russia, as they often mean weakening the economy of a country that introduces them, which often leads to weaker political support domestically for the governments that introduce them.
”It also highlights an important question on how effective sanctions are in preventing Russia from achieving its war aims in Ukraine”
It also highlights an important question on how effective sanctions are in preventing Russia from achieving its war aims in Ukraine. The Russian economy had managed to grow in 2023 and 2024, as it pivoted its trade to more willing partners, such as China, India, Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries. However, it has not come without a cost. VAT has been increased from 20% to 22% in September to sustain its increased military spending. Inflation has also persisted at fairly high levels, with it being nearly 10% in the year ending in April. Its GDP growth is also beginning to slow. These issues will affect ordinary Russians more significantly and could lead to ever-increasing discontent against President Vladimir Putin and his government.
While Western governments are continuing to pile pressure on Russia to end its war with Ukraine through sanctions and other economic measures, they have not yet fully achieved their goals yet of stopping Russia’s war effort.
Image: The Presidential Office of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons
Image: The Presidential Office of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons
