Russia's Military Found a Surprisingly Simple Way to Buy US Chips

[Zorro]

Ever since the US and its allies imposed sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, Western officials have been frustrated by Moscow’s continued ability to get its hands on American technologies to help power its war efforts. Russian weapons recovered from battlefields in the region are chock full of gear from firms like Intel Corp. and Analog Devices Inc., much to the frustration of officials in Washington, Brussels and Kyiv. The nagging question: Why are trade controls failing?

A cache of records obtained by Bloomberg reveals new details about this surprisingly resilient supply chain from Silicon Valley to Moscow. They show many of the steps that suppliers to Russia’s military take to acquire components from US chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc., unbeknownst to the Dallas-based company. They also identify Russian distributors handling thousands of shipments bound for the country’s military contractors, including several companies under US sanctions. They help produce drones, glide bombs, precision communication systems and the Iskander missiles that Moscow uses to hammer Ukraine’s cities.

The purchasing process is surprisingly simple. Some Russian distributors have integrated information from Texas Instruments’ online shop, TI store, onto their sales platforms, allowing clients to see semiconductor inventory and pricing before they place requests, according to documents seen by Bloomberg and government officials familiar with the matter. From Moscow or St. Petersburg, they can buy TI components with a few mouse clicks, placing orders carried out and delivered through companies outside Russia.

In one case reviewed by Bloomberg, a major Russian distributor handled more than 4,000 orders for hundreds of thousands of TI products worth about $6 million this year through August. Nearly $4 million of those orders were ultimately for Russian military companies, while the remainder were likely for civilian use, according to the supply records. The items were routed through Hong Kong or other countries before arriving in Russia.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-12-09/russia-s-military-buying-us-chips-from-texas-instruments-despite-sanctions?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczMzc1Nzk4MywiZXhwIjoxNzM0MzYyNzgzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTTzgzVzRUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNjgyQTUwQzJCRDM0MTFCQTgwQjEwQjZEQjczQzM1MSJ9.icqj2OnnTEkmB_WNR9MI7lbVS-BT3Mv8pK_Prl3pr4A

Capitalism at its finest. Sanctions? Pfft. There are profits to be made!

[Blue_Tires]

1. FFS 😞

[Igel]

2. It's easy to get around the law sometimes.

I know people who are proud to do so because, well, they have rights and the laws are made by the rich and powerful to keep the "little guy" down.

(Or they're made by "wannabe Marxist totalitarians because they want to control everybody like in that book about fascists--1980-something." Same idea, different labels. Same indifference to facts, even that 1984 was about the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.)

Meh. Find a way to close the loopholes that let the Russians, with the proverb "не пойман, не вор" in their back pocket. ("You're not a thief if you're not caught." Come to think of it, I know a lot of people like that. Mostly not my working class neighborhood back in the '70s, though.)