Ukraine increasingly finds Russian and Belarusian electronics in missiles

Ukraine is increasingly finding Russian and Belarusian electronics in the wreckage of missiles fired at it by Moscow, according to a senior Ukrainian official.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine's commissioner for sanctions policy and an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggested that Russia is becoming more capable of replacing Western components it previously relied on in its weapons used against Ukraine.

The West has attempted to block Russia’s access to advanced foreign components and chips for its weapons.

So far, Kyiv has frequently discovered Western electronics in Russian missiles and pressured manufacturers to impose stricter export controls. However, Ukraine is now finding more Russian and Belarusian circuit boards and computer chips in Iskander missiles, which Russia has used regularly since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"In the 2025 Iskander, compared to the 2022 Iskander, there are fewer European and U.S. components, and more from Russia and Belarus," Vlasiuk said in a briefing this week.

The ballistic version of the Iskander missile is especially challenging to intercept because it travels at several times the speed of sound, while the cruise version is slower.

Although the chips appear to be of lower quality than their Western counterparts, Vlasiuk noted that they do not seem to affect the missile's performance.

"They have the ability to make chips which are of poor quality – so far. After some time, they will get better," he added.

Belarus, while not actively participating in the war, is a close ally of Russia and permitted Moscow's troops to use its territory as a launch point for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Copied