Computer chips are crucial to Putin’s war machine. This is how the Russians circumvent the American ban.

The Russians are denied the purchase of military technology. This could be a problem in Ukraine. But the Russians have already shown they can circumvent US sanctions.

In 2017, Russian authorities released this image, which shows a long-range cruise missile fired from a Russian ship. Now the Russians may have a problem with limited access to microchips, which are very important for this type of missile.

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In the spring of 2015, a package of more than 100 data chips will arrive at Ilias Sabirov’s office in Moscow. The businessman has been supplying the Russian army with electronic equipment from the United States for several years, according to his own words.

Until 2014, this was no problem, but then Putin annexed the Crimean peninsula.

The United States and several countries have responded with a number of sanctions. Among other things, restrictions on the sale of microchips that can be used in military missiles and satellites. It was this type of chip that arrived at Sabirov’s office, according to the Reuters news agency.

Seven years later, Russia is again hit by a series of sanctions. The objective is to limit or make impossible the Russian war in Ukraine. But the 2015 case is just one example of how the Russians have repeatedly recovered from Western sanctions.

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Alec Dittman

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