Ukraine Uncovers 100,000+ Western Parts Inside Russian Missiles and Drones From October Strikes

Ukraine has disclosed that Russian missiles and drones used in the October 5–6 mass attack contained thousands of foreign-made parts, including components originating in the UK, US and European Union, intensifying calls for tighter export controls and sanctions enforcement.

Army Technology reported the disclosure on October 7, citing Ukrainian officials who said inspections of debris from the latest barrages again revealed extensive use of imported electronics in Russian systems. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the weekend attack combined “549 weapon systems containing 102,785 foreign-made components,” adding that identified manufacturers span “the US, China and Taiwan, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Netherlands.”

The finding aligns with earlier field investigations. In September, Ukraine’s presidential sanctions commissioner, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said Kyiv is now “finding more and more Russian and Belarusian electronics” in recently produced Iskander missiles, noting that “in the 2025 Iskander, compared to the 2022 Iskander, there are fewer European and US components, and more from Russia and Belarus.” He added that locally produced chips “are of poor quality—so far,” but performance has not been visibly affected. 

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War in Ukraine

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Independent researchers have previously documented systematic reliance on imported parts. The Royal United Services Institute reported in 2022 that inspections of expended Russian weapons showed hundreds of Western components embedded across systems, a pattern echoed by subsequent field work from Conflict Armament Research. 

Ukraine’s public “Components in the aggressor’s weapon” database, maintained by government bodies to support sanctions implementation, currently lists more than 5,000 distinct foreign components tied to 177 weapon systems as of September 27, 2025. 

Zelenskyy has repeatedly pressed partners to close sanctions loopholes enabling Russia to source dual-use electronics. “All Russian missiles have dozens of critical components manufactured abroad… blocking the ways Russia circumvents sanctions is literally blocking terror,” he said in an official address earlier this year. 

Earlier, it was reported that Ukrainian intelligence confirmed Russia deploying upgraded Shahed drones that incorporate Nvidia AI hardware and numerous imported parts from Western manufacturers, raising enforcement questions over sanctions and export controls.

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