THE RUSSIA CONNECTIONInvestigation: How Russia's Warplanes Get Their 'Brain Power' From the West, Despite Sanctions
The sanctions Western countries have imposed on Russia have many vulnerabilities –a recurring complaint for Kyiv as, handicapped by a deficit of weapons and ammunition, it watches Russian forces advance, hammering soldiers, civilians, and vital infrastructure.
Major Japanese, U.S., and Taiwanese companies rank among the Top 5 manufacturers on a list of more than 2,000 electronic components that Ukraine says Russia has used in five types of warplanes it has deployed in its full-scale invasion, Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, has found.
Though the imports did not come directly from these manufacturers, they underline the vulnerabilities of the sanctions Western countries have imposed on Russia – a recurring complaint for Kyiv as, handicapped by a deficit of weapons and ammunition, it watches Russian forces advance, hammering soldiers, civilians, and vital infrastructure.
Ukraine has emphasized that stopping the import of such sanctioned dual-use products is crucial for Ukraine’s defense against Russia. In an April 14 speech, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy remarked that “it is not opinions that curb the production of missiles and drones for terror.”
Schemes obtained a list of 2,000 electronic components that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia used in five types of Sukhoi warplanes that were involved in attacks on Ukraine between the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 and the end of 2023.
Using the list and publicly accessible import data, Schemes tracked two intermediary companies in European Union countries — Cyprus and Hungary – that shipped electronic components to Russian defense contractors involved in the manufacture of the Sukhoi jets that deliver those missiles.
The list, provided by a Ukrainian intelligence source who monitors Russian military contractors’ imports, identifies electronic components used for the “brains” of five Sukhoi jet models that Russia uses regularly in attacks on Ukraine – the Su-27SM3, Su-30SM, Su-34, Su-35S, and Su-57.
The parts facilitate the Russian planes’ navigation and guidance systems for these missiles and bombs, as well as their radio-electronic warfare with Ukrainian forces and communications with their control centers.
As an example, Valeriy Romanenko, a senior research associate at Kyiv’s Ukrainian State Aviation Museum, cited radar that can simultaneously track and target dozens of sites more than 300 kilometers away, while monitoring the aircraft’s location relative to enemy planes and anti-aircraft defenses.
These systems, “built mostly with Western-made electronics, allow the Russians to inflict significant losses on us,” Romanenko said.
The Top Five
Schemes reviewed the list along with the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), a Kyiv nonprofit that monitors corruption in Ukraine’s national security sphere.
