The missiles that hit Ukraine every day were built using advanced components from the West. Germany ranks third on the list of suppliers here, according to the portal “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ). In total, 16 German companies supplied materials for the production of weapons.
Despite all the sanctions, the Russian missiles contain components from Germany and other allied countries, pointed out Vladislav Vlasyuk, an adviser to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who passed on Kiev’s findings on this matter to the Western allies. According to this data, since the attack on Ukraine in 2022, Russia has doubled the production of ballistic and cruise missiles.
“This is possible because Western sanctions against Russia are circumvented through third countries”
– emphasized the Ukrainian side. According to Kiev, 81 percent. of components illegally entering Russia come from the USA. Switzerland is in second place (8%), followed by Germany and Japan (3.5% each). Components from Germany are placed by the Russians, e.g. in Kh-101 cruise missiles and Iskander missiles.
In total, 16 German companies supplied materials for the production of weapons. Exports take place mainly through China, as well as through Central Asia, the Caucasus and Turkey. In this way, it can reach Russia, e.g. electronics or plastics – most often thanks to the “labyrinth of fake companies” in intermediate countries.
These countries provide the most
These reports are “not contested” by Berlin. As confirmed by the German Foreign Ministry, the reports of “Ukrainian colleagues about the use of sanctioned components in Russian missiles are taken very seriously.”
Corisk, a Norwegian foreign investment consultancy, believes that the total volume of Russian imports has already returned to pre-war levels. According to her, Germany is the leading country in terms of origin of goods delivered to Russia in violation of the sanctions, followed by the USA and France.
How do they avoid sanctions?
Transit countries include Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries. It is suspected that household appliances (e.g. refrigerators) delivered to Russia are “cannibalized” – and the chips and electronics derived from them “bring death to Ukrainian cities as components of Russian Iskanders or Kinzhals”.
From Germany, according to Coris, mainly large off-road vehicles and trucks are shipped, as well as machinery, plastics, fuels and chemicals. As emphasized by Vlasiuk, these data are consistent with the findings of Ukraine.
According to the FAZ, the reason for such large “hidden exports” from Germany is the fact that “the German economy is large and closely linked to Russia.” The lack of determination of the German government is also pointed out. As noted by Wlasiuk, “Germany was one of the countries during the recent EU negotiations on tightening sanctions that was particularly ‘hesitating’ to introduce new penalties against third countries.”
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, niezalezna.pl,
