Despite strict international sanctions, Russia has found a way to keep importing crucial American microchips that are used in missiles, drones, and surveillance technology. These microchips, known as FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays), are mainly produced by big U.S. companies like Intel and AMD. The sale of these chips to Russia for military use was banned in 2020, and a broader embargo was put in place in 2022, stopping all chip exports to Russia. Yet, somehow, these chips are still making their way into Russia.
Why Russia Needs These Microchips
FPGAs are incredibly important for modern technology. They help power everything from missile navigation systems and drones to radar equipment and internet censorship tools. Russia doesn’t produce these advanced chips locally and relies heavily on U.S. FPGAs for its defense and surveillance systems. For instance, the missiles and drones Russia uses to attack Ukrainian cities are equipped with these chips, despite sanctions meant to prevent this.
How Russia Skirts the Sanctions
The restrictions on exporting these chips were supposed to be tight. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce made it very difficult to export high-performance FPGAs to Russia, and by 2022, a blanket ban was imposed on all U.S. chip exports to Russia. This means that even if someone tried to export these chips to Russia for civilian purposes, it was still prohibited.
However, The Insider has uncovered that these chips are still getting through. Here’s how:
- Faking Paperwork: Companies involved in the trade of these chips have been found to use fake paperwork to bypass sanctions. They might list a European or Chinese company as the end recipient of the chips, but these goods eventually end up in Russia.
- Hidden Supply Routes: Former official distributors of U.S. microchips have set up new companies or used old connections to continue supplying these chips to Russia. They exploit loopholes in the system, like declaring shipments to third countries as intermediate stops.
- Black Market Channels: Some chips are smuggled into Russia using old-fashioned methods, such as hiding them in everyday items like TVs or microwaves. This makes detection harder and allows the chips to slip through customs.
- Dodging Inspections: The process of verifying that chips are not ending up in military equipment is supposed to involve in-person checks. But in practice, these checks are often bypassed with paperwork that doesn’t reflect the true end use of the chips.
The Ongoing Problem
Even with these sanctions, high-performance FPGAs are still showing up in Russian military systems. For example, these chips are found in missiles used in attacks on Ukrainian cities and in advanced drones. Companies like Xilinx and Altera, which produce these chips, claim to have stopped selling them to Russia, but the reality is different.
The Impact
These chips are essential for advanced military and surveillance technology, and their presence in Russian systems means that despite sanctions, Russia’s capabilities in these areas remain strong. The complex and secretive ways these chips are smuggled show how difficult it is to enforce trade bans and keep advanced technology out of the hands of countries under sanctions.
While international sanctions aim to limit Russia’s access to advanced U.S. technology, creative and covert methods continue to enable the flow of these crucial microchips into the country. The persistence of these supply routes reveals the challenges in fully implementing and enforcing global trade restrictions.
