Domestic chips unusable: Semiconductor sanctions hit the Russian military hard

Domestic chips unusable Semiconductor sanctions hit the Russian military hard 01.06.2025, 08:02

Since the attack on Ukraine, Russia has been banned from purchasing semiconductors from the US and EU. The sanctions hit the military hard after the outbreak of the war, as internal data from a major defense company shows. Alternatives from China also acted as a deterrent.

According to a report, the Russian armed forces are heavily dependent on Western semiconductor technology – and are therefore particularly hard hit by current sanctions. The newspaper "Bild am Sonntag" claims to have analyzed internal documents from the Russian defense company NPO VS. These documents allegedly show that the Russian army is alarmed by its dependence on Western chip manufacturers such as Intel, AMD, and Nvidia.

NPO VS is headquartered in Kazan, southwest Russia. The company is said to be central to equipping the Russian armed forces.

According to the report, the analyzed dataset contains 1.1 million documents. These include emails, contracts, and presentations classified at the highest security level, "Top Secret." This also includes letters from former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Supreme Commander Valery Gerasimov.

Significant backlog

As the newspaper reports, experts are alarmed by this Russian dependence and vulnerability. Russian chips of the Elbrus and Baikal brands are also no alternative to semiconductors from the USA – a Russian arms manager reportedly stated this in a four-page dossier in March 2022.

It literally states: "They (the Russian chips) are inferior to the competition in terms of performance and energy efficiency and are also significantly more expensive." The gap is significant; his country is at least ten years behind the competition, the NPO manager writes in an internal email.

Berlin-based researchers from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) had already concluded in a study at the beginning of the war that Russia had invested heavily in its technological infrastructure in recent years due to ongoing tensions with the EU and the US – but primarily in internet censorship measures. The semiconductor industry had not been considered in the national IT strategy, they concluded.

Trade enemy for enemy

Due to US and EU sanctions, Russia cannot purchase semiconductors directly, but instead acquires the chips indirectly. The company NPO relies on a complex system of intermediaries.

According to the documents, Moscow is seeking ways to end its chip dependence on the United States. Chinese manufacturers are being considered. However, the idea was later rejected by the relevant executives. The report states, among other reasons, that a "supplier from one potential enemy country (the United States) would then be replaced by a supplier from another potential enemy country (the People's Republic of China)." China has so far been viewed by the public as an ally of Moscow.