China is fueling Moscow’s war in Ukraine by sending fighter-jet components, navigational systems for military helicopters, and other technology since last year’s invasion, Russian customs data shows.
The shipments, which are not weapons but have wartime uses, are reportedly among thousands of Chinese imports from both state-owned and private businesses recorded by the Russian customs office, a list that also includes telescoping antennas for military vehicles that can be used for communications jamming and parts for a radar system used to detect jets and missiles.
Customs data compiled by the Washington-based national security nonprofit C4ADS and examined by the Wall Street Journal shows that Russia has been able to continue bolstering its military arsenal by importing technology from countries that have not joined the West’s efforts to sanction Moscow.
Other countries continuing to send shipments to Russia include the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, a member of NATO, which has branded the sanctions ineffective. But the Journal report found China is the “dominant exporter” of what’s known as “dual-use” goods or materials that could be used in weapons or less lethal products.
Last year, Turkish companies shipped more than $18 million of goods including vehicles, plastic, and rubber to ten Russian companies sanctioned by the U.S. for their role in the war, the Journal reported.
Turkish businesses also exported at least another $15 million in American-made electronics and technology to Russia, in direct violation of U.S. sanctions aimed at cutting off Moscow’s military supply chains.
30 countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, although Turkey has publicly declined to enforce them.
The U.S. warned Turkey about exporting chemicals, microchips, and other products to Russia that could be used in the war on Ukraine on Thursday and said Turkish companies or banks that disregard sanctions could face punishment.
Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury Department’s top sanctions official, visited officials from the Turkish government and private sector to push them to cooperate with the West to stem the flow of goods to Russia.
Nelson told Turkish bankers the increasing amount of exports to Russia leaves Turkey “particularly vulnerable to reputational and sanctioned risks” and added that they should “take extra precaution to avoid transactions related to potential dual-use technology transfers that could be used by the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Despite the signs that the effort to stop goods from heading to Russia is being flouted, the European Union is preparing the unveil a new series of sanctions against Russia on Feb. 24 to mark the one-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions package, which will be the 10th the EU has brought against Russia since the war began, will target technology used by the Russian military, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a news conference Friday.
Leyen added that the sanctions will specifically target parts used to manufacture drones, which Iran has played a key role in supplying.
The EU’s 27 member countries must agree on the exact specifications of the sanctions package before it is finalized.
Along with the looming slate of sanctions, Ukraine will also be adding some new firepower to its arsenal, sent from its allies from the West.
The French and Italian defense ministers announced that they will be sending a long-range anti-missile system this spring that was developed in collaboration between both countries.
“Supplying this system meet(s) the urgency expressed by the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov to his French and Italian counterpart,” the French Ministry of Armed Forces said in a statement Friday.
The U.S. also announced that an additional $2.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine, will include long-range missiles that can hit targets up to 93 miles away, approximately doubling Ukraine’s range of attack.
Along with the aid package, the U.S. also said Friday that it would be using funds seized from a sanctioned Russian oligarch for the first time to aid Ukraine in its war efforts.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the over $5 million seized in June from a bank account belonging to Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev — “for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly” the Russian government, the Treasury Department said at the time — will be transferred to the State Department to aid Ukraine.
“Russian war criminals will find no refuge in the United States,” Garland said during a press conference with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.
“Today, we are witnessing the authorization of transfer of the confiscated assets in the amount of $5.4 million US dollars to the State Department for the purpose of rebuilding war-ravaged Ukraine,” Kostin said. “We are grateful to the United States for its decisive efforts and support. Ukrainian people will never forget that.”
