Despite sanctions, the Russian military continues to gain access to US-made microchips for its defense systems, as suppliers continue to exploit a loophole in acquiring this critical technology.
This was revealed in a cache of internal documents obtained by Bloomberg amid reports of American-made semiconductors being discovered in captured Russian weapons.
The leaked records suggest that Russian distributors have integrated Texas Instruments’ online store into their trading platforms, enabling Russian customers to view stock availability and place orders.
Texas Instruments is a leading microchip manufacturer in the US, headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Russian military suppliers are reportedly circumventing sanctions by routing orders through intermediaries outside Russia using websites like getchips and altchips.
Thousands of Orders
The Bloomberg report explains that Russian distributors may have gained access to Texas Instruments’ application programming interface (API), which enables software to communicate and exchange data.
Through this compromised interface, one Russian distributor processed over 4,000 orders between August 2023 and August 2024, accounting for hundreds of thousands of microchips worth an estimated $6 million.
Of those, nearly $4 million worth of microchips were destined for Russian military companies but were routed through Hong Kong and other countries to bypass sanctions.
Russia’s Growing Use of US-Made Systems
Reports of Russia’s continued access to US-made semiconductors surfaced in 2022, following its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian intelligence highlighted that microchips from companies like Intel, Micron Technology, Atmel Corp, and Micrel were found in Russian military equipment, such as command post vehicles.
Recent investigations have identified more suppliers, including Analog Devices (16%), Texas Instruments (15%), and AMD (5%).
Texas Instruments has yet to comment on the alleged loophole.
