Western companies continue to supply Russia with components for Russian Orlan-10 drones during the war in Ukraine. In the past months of 2022 alone, the Russian Federation made purchases worth more than $25.75 million (1.65 billion rubles), including from US companies. This is stated in the investigation "Important stories", conducted jointly with Reuters and the British Institute of Defense Research.
Russia has been using its own Orlan-10 drone, manufactured by the Special Technology Center, in Ukraine since 2014. However, in fact, this is a UAV with foreign microelectronics, from the Russian one it only has a body. The drone manufacturer itself has been under sanctions since 2016 “for helping the GRU” in electronic intelligence. She manages to bypass restrictions through intermediaries in China, the Russian Federation and the United States, it is specified in the investigation.
One of the owners of the Special Technology Center (STC) Alexei Terentyev admitted that the company is under sanctions. But, according to him, he did not notice any negative consequences after the introduction of restrictions. He said that the company has become more reputable and enjoys greater respect, since the sanctions from "one of the most powerful powers in the world" should be proud of.
The journalists found out that the company buys part of the components in the Russian Citilink network, from January to May 2022, it took about 300 million rubles. The main supplier of foreign components for the STC is SMT-Ilogic. STC General Director Roman Agafonnikov said in a conversation with reporters that he had never heard of this company. Terentiev also stated that he did not know about the company, despite the fact that, according to the register, he was one of its founders. Since 2017, SMT-Ilogic has been importing about $70 million worth of components to Russia. At the same time, STC is the main buyer, in 2021 it provided about 80% of revenue.
One of the intermediaries and main suppliers of components for Ilogic is the Hong Kong company Asia Pacific Links, owned by Russian Anton Trofimov. The company's unsigned office is located in a shabby building in Hong Kong. At the reception of the building, journalists were confirmed that the company was renting a room with three other tenants. According to the workers, one “foreigner” sometimes comes into the building. Since 2017, Asia Pacific Links has supplied SMT-Ilogic with components worth $12 million. More than half of the amount fell on the period of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The American intermediary is the Ik Tech company of Igor Kazhdan (Alex Stanton) from Florida. Having citizenship of both the Russian Federation and the United States, the man admitted that he supplied electronic components to Russia: “I don’t think this is such a big problem. I don't think you need to write about it." From 2018 to 2021, Ik Tech supplied goods worth $2.2 million to the Russian Federation, more than 90% were SMT-Ilogic orders.
In February, even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kazhdan was arrested on charges of smuggling military and dual-use products. According to him, Russia persuaded him to supply products around the restrictions. He stated in court that he started doing business with the Russian Federation after meeting with "Russian managers" at a conference on satellites in 2016.
Reuters previously published an investigation that Western countries continue to supply semiconductors to the Russian Federation, despite sanctions. For deliveries bypassing in Turkey and Hong Kong, firms-"gaskets" are created. The United States and European countries supplied Russia with $777 million worth of chips from April to November 2022. Including supplied components from Intel, AMD, Texas Instruments, Analog Devices and Infineon.