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28 February, 2023
Enabling War Crimes? Western-Made Components in Russia's War Against Ukraine
A  new  report,  released  by  the  International  Partnership  for  Human  Rights  and  the Independent  Anti-Corruption  Commission (NAKO),  has  found  that  western-made  dual-use components  have  continued  to  reach  Russia  long  after  its  full-scale  invasion  of Ukraine,  and  that  western-made  components  have  been  and  continue  to  be  used within  weapons  involved  in  Russian  suspected  war  crimes.  The  report explores multiple suspected war crimes that have been committed by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion, with each of them believed to have been carried out using a weapon or weapons containing western-made components.
The revelation that western-made components continue to reach Russia long after the invasion  raises  moral  and  ethical  concerns  for  the  companies  involved  as  well  as questions  about  their  due  diligence  and  risk  assessment  processes.  Trade  data revealed  that  three  western  technology  companies  –  two  of  which  make  dual-use components being sought by Russia to manufacture and repair its military equipment, and  one  of  which  makes  a  variety  of  a  specific  component  needed  by  the  Russian military  –  continue  to  export  thousands  of  components  worth  millions  of  dollars  to Russia  as  recently  as  in  November  2022.  Trade  data  shows  that  components manufactured  by  Harting,  Trimble,  and  TE  Connectivity  continue  to  be  imported  by Russia, either through official distributors for the companies, or third countries such as Hong Kong and Turkey.
The data discovered and analyzed by NAKO as part of this report, indicates that the Russian Kalibr cruise missile includes components produced by 11 foreign companies, including 9 American ones, as well as Swiss and Taiwanese ones. This and other selected case studies with the detailed analysis will be made public in the coming weeks as part of the NAKO's report on Western components in Russia's weapons and military equipment.