Victoria Vyshnivska

Cheap drones are reshaping modern warfare—and exposing a dangerous imbalance: they cost tens of thousands of dollars to build but millions to stop. Despite sweeping sanctions, Russia and Iran continue to build attack drones using Western technology.

When a Russian drone obliterated a Ukrainian school dorm in the dead of night, the wreckage held a surprise: American microchips. A group of Ukrainian victims is now suing some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and Texas tech, accusing them of enabling Russian and Iranian weapons with their components—despite global sanctions and export controls.

Microchips made in Switzerland turning up in Russian drones show that neutrality today is as much about supply chains as diplomacy.

Sanctions were meant to choke Russia’s war machine—but Western microchips are still guiding its bombs. Despite sweeping restrictions, Russia keeps finding ways to import foreign technology critical to producing one of its most lethal weapons: glide bombs (KABs).