According to the Ukrainian authorities, Russia has doubled the production of ballistic missiles, while they continue to use components produced in countries that have imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation. These data, as reported by the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, with reference to the words of the adviser to the office of the President of Ukraine Vladislav Vlasyuk, were provided to the Western allies.
According to them, in 2022 Russia produced 512 such missiles, while in 2023 it is likely to produce 1061. 81% of the smuggled Western components used in them come from the United States, 8% from Switzerland and 3.5% each from Germany and Japan.
In particular, it is reported that German components are used in the Kh-101 covered missile, in the 9M728 and 9M729 missiles for the Iskander complexes, and also in the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile. According to the Ukrainian authorities, they were supplied from China, through the countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and from Turkey. We are talking about electronics and insulating materials. Most likely, manufacturing companies are not aware of these deliveries, which are carried out through a network of fictitious one-day firms.
The German Foreign Ministry, according to Faz, takes the information provided by the Ukrainian side "very seriously" and checks it. At the same time, "it is possible that these components were supplied before the war and before the entry into force of [German] sanctions." The German Foreign Ministry does not rule out that stocks of such components were created in Russia before the war.
On June 23, the 11th package of EU sanctions was adopted . It included measures designed to prevent the Russian Federation from circumventing the already introduced restrictions through third countries. In May, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, noted an increase in "highly unusual trade flows."