On the morning of September 2, Ukraine was hit by another Russian missile and drone attack, with nearly 60 air targets targeting Ukrainian citizens and infrastructure. Shortly after the attack ended, many Ukrainain took to social media to express their anger that the Russian rockets are still being made with American microchips.
In response, one of those manufacturers, Intel decided to block Ukrainian accounts on X.
- One of the first people to report the blocking was Serhii Sternenko, a prominent blogger and fundraiser in Ukraine.
"Every day, russians attack Ukraine with missiles with Amercian chips. Without them, these missiles would not exist. One of the companies whose chips russia uses is Intel. I asked why Intel helps russians kill Ukrainians. In response, the company blocked me," Sternenko said in his post.
Screenshoot: Serhii Sternenko's post on X.
- The blocking caused an outrage among Ukrainian users, who decided to further question Intel on their adherence to economic sanctions against the Russian Federation. Shortly after, many of them got blocked, too.
Screenshots: posts on X
- So far, Intel didn't make any official statements regarding neither their chips inside Russian missiles, nor the situation with blocking.
Russia continues making UAVs and rockets using Western tech
Following the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, the US introduced sanctions that banned the provision of American chips to Russia and China. and Despite the US sanctions against the Russian Federation that restrict direct sales of American equipment and technology to the terrorist state, many Russian manufacturers managed to circumvent these restrictions obtaining the chips from third party supply routes.
Back in May 2023, AIN reported on the capture of Russian UAVs by Ukrainian soldiers. The photos published by DS8044 Kyiv showed that the Russians continue to use Western tech components from American manufacturers, such as Intel and Taoglas. One of the captured UAVs, for example, contained Intel's Neural Compute Stick 2. Many similar reports also evidenced the use of Amercian technologies inside newly manufactured missiles.
Image: DС8044 Kyiv
In December 2023, Bloomberg reported that chips from Texas Instruments and other US manufacturers managed to get Into Russia despite the US ban. According to the data analysis, more than 200 companies in the Russian Federation received 17,000 Texas Instruments chips from January to May of this year. The total cost of supplies was $25 million. The report claims that over the past year, Hong Kong became the largest transit country for chips going to the Russian Federation, surpassing even China.
Why is it important?
The continued circumvention of US sanctions showcases the inability or reluctance of American companies to regulate the supply routes and oversee where their microchips and other tech ends up. This plays into the hand of Russian government, which uses the sanctioned technology to terrorize and kill Ukrainian citizens.
Ukrainians and their supporters claim that by overlooking sanctions, Intel indirectly participates in the genocide of Ukrainians. Moreover, the blocking that occurs when Ukrainians are demanding fair adherence to sanctions, further undemines the reputation of such companies. "The blood of Ukrainians is on their hands," Sternenko also wrote about Intel.
