A blow to Okhmatdet: Russia continues to buy Western microelectronics for its missiles in a bid to circumvent sanctions - Financial Times
Kyiv • UNN
Since the full-scale invasion, Russia has increased its production of X-101 cruise missiles eightfold, using smuggled Western microelectronics to circumvent sanctions.
Russia continues to buy Western microelectronics for its missiles in circumvention of sanctions. Not least because of this, the production of X-101 cruise missiles, one of which hit the Okhmatdyt children's hospital, has increased eightfold since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This was reported by the Financial Times, UNN.
The publication notes that Russia produces almost eight times more X-101 missiles than before Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion in 2022. However, it still depends on components from Western countries, especially the United States.
Although sanctions have deprived Russia of access to some advanced components, the Kremlin's defense sector has turned to microprocessors and other advanced technologies not intended for military use.
"The transition is evident in the Ukrainian analysis of the X-101 missile launched in January, which found 16 pieces of Western-made electronics inside the missile.
Two of the components were labeled as being made by the Swiss company STMicroelectronics, while others were produced by American chipmakers, including Texas Instruments, Analog Devices and Intel. All the goods are mainly intended for civilian use, some of them quite old," the Financial Times writes.
Citing the opinion of expert Fabian Hoffman, the Financial Times writes that the failure rate of Russian cruise missiles can reach 20%, as smuggled components provide inaccurate guidance, fail to cope with the difficulties of subsonic flight, or prevent launch.
However, in the case of Okhmatdyt, we are talking about a targeted hit by a Russian missile on a children's hospital.
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Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, was the first to report that the most damaged facilities as a result of the Russian missile attack on the capital on July 8 were most likely hit by enemy X-101 missiles.
"The parts and debris that have been identified as of this hour are poorly preserved and highly fragmented. Taking into account the available markings and design features, we can preliminarily say that the strikes were carried out by X-101 cruise missiles. The final conclusions will be submitted to the pre-trial investigation authorities after all the necessary examinations are conducted," Ruvin said.
