The McFaul-Yermak International Sanctions Group has prepared a new analysis of Russian UAVs and foreign components in them.
According to Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak, 69% of the components of Russian drones come from Western companies.
"We have studied 174 foreign components removed from three UAV models used by Russians in the war against Ukraine - Lancet, Orlan-10 and Shahed-136/131. We have also offered our partners specific sanctions recommendations to help cut off oxygen to the Russian defence industry... Russia is still very dependent on foreign-made components, in particular microelectronics," Yermak said.
He noted that some of these components can still be purchased on publicly available platforms.
"Russia receives components most often through third countries, which we have described in detail in the report. We also found an increase in Russian trade after a sharp decline at the beginning of the full-scale invasion in the third quarter of 2022. These transactions totalled $7.2 billion in the period from January to May 2023, up 19% from $6.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2022. This applies, in particular, to components," Yermak said.
He added that Russia also uses tactics to conceal its procurement efforts. "They include illegal networks, concealment of customs data, one-day shell companies, expansion of intermediary structures, diversification of suppliers and organisation of fake transit operations," Yermak said.
He listed the measures that will help prevent the supply of critical components for Russian military production:
· harmonisation of sanctions within the sanctions coalition (unification of sanctions lists to cover a wider range of companies involved in the military complex);
· broader export controls (expanding the sanctioned categories of goods by using broader product classifications based on 6-digit Harmonised System (HS) codes can prevent misclassification and simplify export controls);
· improving company compliance (improved cooperation between manufacturers of critical components and authorities is key to improving compliance with sanctions and implementing effective measures);
· increased accountability: companies should take responsibility for ensuring that their products do not end up in Russian weapons;
· more effective use of existing institutions and structures (the application of the anti-money laundering system can strengthen export control measures, as sanctions evasion often has similar patterns to money laundering).