Zelensky: Russian attack drones rely on Western and Asian components, sanctions must be tightened

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called on Western allies to strengthen sanctions enforcement on microelectronic components, saying his country's military analysis of destroyed Russian drones reveals they are built with foreign-made parts.

"Every Shahed drone we shoot down, every missile we analyse, shows that Russia cannot build these weapons without Western chips and Asian circuit boards. The sanctions are there — they are simply not enforced," Zelensky said in his evening address.

Ukrainian engineers have catalogued components from hundreds of downed Russian drones and cruise missiles over the past year. Their findings indicate that critical electronic components, including microprocessors, navigation systems, and guidance chips, were sourced from manufacturers in the United States, European Union, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan through third-country intermediaries.

Zelensky specifically called on the US, EU, and UK to impose stricter export controls and secondary sanctions on entities in third countries facilitating the transfer of controlled technology to Russia.

Western governments have repeatedly tightened export controls on dual-use technology since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, but enforcement gaps remain, particularly in countries that have not joined the sanctions regime.