A US official has revealed that the US has asked American companies to halt shipments to over 600 foreign entities amid concerns that the goods might be redirected to Russia and used in its war against Ukraine, as per Reuters.
Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has many times found foreign components in Russian missiles and drones launched on its peaceful cities and villages. On 23 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine discovered at least 7,500 foreign components in the Russian missiles and drones used in the attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on 22 March, UNIAN reported.
“In all of those Iskanders, Kinzhals, and other Russian missiles, in Shahed drones are dozens of components that are imported for terror from different countries around the world.
There were at least three hundred types of components from ten countries in the missiles used in this air assault against Ukraine, targeting our energy system. Together with the Shaheds, it totals at least 7,500 components,” the president stated.
Zelenskyy emphasized that each of these components represents a violation of sanctions imposed on Russia and reflects an attempt to profit from the destruction of lives.
The president also underscored the importance of uniting efforts with Western partners to prevent the Kremlin from circumventing sanctions and stop missile terror in Ukraine. He called for strengthening economic measures against Russia and urged allies to enhance Ukraine’s air defense systems.
According to Reuters, in recent weeks, the US Commerce Department of the US sent letters to at least 20 companies with warnings, the latest effort to stymie the Russian war machine.
The department said the companies produce and sell products found in missiles and drones recovered inside Ukraine.
Since Moscow invaded Russia in 2022, the US and more than 30 other countries have put in place a raft of sanctions aimed at degrading Russia’s ability to wage war by cutting off access to Western technology. Yet American components continue to be found in Russian weapons left on the battlefield in Ukraine.
“In the last several weeks, we’ve sent letters to more than 20 American companies, each containing a list of more than 600 foreign parties.
“In those letters, we’ve requested that the American companies voluntarily stop shipping to these parties due to the high risk of transshipment to Russia,” Assistant Secretary Matthew Axelrod said at the department’s annual export control conference.
Axelrod noted that high-ranking officials from the Commerce, State, and Treasury departments were actively engaging with senior executives of US corporations. These discussions explore additional measures these companies can implement to mitigate the risk of diverting their products to Russia.
Earlier, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAZK) had created the world’s first open global inventory detailing foreign components utilized in Russian and Iranian missiles, drones, electronic warfare systems, and other military equipment, the agency announced.
Ukraine launches public database tracking foreign components in Russian, Iranian weaponry
As of December 2023, the War and Sanctions portal featured a list of over 2000 components that Russia and Iran utilize in various missiles, UAVs, electronic warfare systems, and numerous other forms of weaponry and military technology.
However, recently, the agency announced that it would no longer maintain its portal of “international sponsors of war,” in a step that sparked outrage among some of Ukraine’s partners, Ukrainska Pravda informed.
It stated that it was transferring the information in the “International Sponsors of War” section of the “War and Sanctions” portal to the Interagency Working Group on implementing the State Sanction Policy.
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