Lagging domestic microelectronics production has forced Russia to continue to rely on foreign-sourced electronics for its weapon systems. This article examines where Russia imports these electronics from and how this has shifted since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Hong Kong and China have become the main suppliers post-invasion, though the electronics are still predominantly Western-branded electronics. Sources differ over the scale of Russian imports. Several indicators point to the increasing cost and complexity of Russian procurement, demonstrating the effectiveness of sanctions and export controls.
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Drones have played a key role on both sides in the conflict in Ukraine. While much attention has focused on Ukraine’s acquisition of UAVs from Turkey and Russia’s reliance on Iranian UAVs, less has been said about how small, mass market drones have been procured from the commercial market. Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI), a Chinese mass producer of quadcopters and one of the world’s leading companies in quadcopters, has seen its products become ubiquitous as Ukrainian and Russian forces fight trench-by-trench for control of the country.
- Read more about Russia’s Quadcopter Express
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The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), and the Department of Justice have issued a joint compliance note on the use of third-party intermediaries or transshipment points to evade Russian and Belarusian-related sanctions and export controls. The note highlights the most common tactics used to evade these controls and provides guidance to companies on how to maintain an effective, risk-based sanctions and export compliance program.
- Read more about US Advisory on Russian Sanctions Evasion
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The following is an excerpt from the article, available in full at the Strategic Trade Review.