Ukrainian cities are struck by Russian rockets daily. And the missiles use advanced components manufactured in the West. Germany is the third largest supplier of the Russian war machine, the website of the German daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” reported on Saturday.
Russian missiles, “in spite of all the sanctions, contain components made in Germany and other states allied [to Ukraine],” said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who conveyed the findings of Kyiv on the matter to its Western allies.
The data collated by Ukrainians indicate that since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it has doubled its output of ballistic and cruise missiles.
“It is possible because Western sanctions against Russia are circumvented using third parties [states],” the Ukrainian side stressed.
According to Kyiv, 81% of components delivered to Russia come from the U.S., followed by Switzerland (8%), Germany (3.5%), and Japan (3.5%).
The German contribution
Focusing on the German components, “FAZ” writes that they are used, among others, in Kh-101 cruise missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles.
A total of 16 companies have delivered parts needed by the Russian weapons industry, with the export going primarily through China, but also Central Asia, Caucasus, or Turkey. Thanks to a “labyrinth of fake companies” in the intermediary states, Russia receives, among others, electronics and plastics.
Berlin is “not questioning” these reports. As the German Foreign Ministry confirmed, the reports of “our Ukrainian colleagues about the use of sanctioned components in Russian missiles are treated very seriously.”
Corisk, a Norwegian company advising international investors, estimates that the overall volume of Russian imports has returned to pre-war levels.
In Corisk’s estimate, it is German companies that lead in violating sanctions against trade with Russia, followed by the U.S. and France, with Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, as well as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian States, serving as transit countries.
It is suspected that home appliances, such as for example fridges, sold to Russia, are being cannibalized for microchips and other electronics “to deliver death to the Ukrainian cities as components of Russian Iskanders and Kindzhals.”
According to Corisk, German exports to Russia consist mainly of off-road cars and trucks, as well as machinery, plastics, fuels, and chemicals. As Vlasiuk stressed, this is consistent with what Ukraine managed to establish.
FAZ identifies the reason behind the large volumes of this “hidden export” is because the “German economy is large and closely tied to Russia”. The daily also pointed to the German government’s indecisiveness.
“Germany is one of the countries that during the latest EU negotiations on tightening sanctions that were particularly hesitant to introduce new punishments on third countries,” said Vladyslav Vlasiuk.
Source : TVP World