Russian missile that hit Okhmatdyt children's hospital contains Western components - FT
Photo: Russians shell Okhmatdyt (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The Russian missile that hit the Okhmatdyt children's hospital at the beginning of this week had Western components, according to the Financial Times.
The Russian missile that hit the Kyiv children's hospital, according to experts and Ukrainian officials, is based on Western-made components, indicating the Kremlin's success in evading sanctions.
Captured on camera seconds before it struck the hospital, the Kh-101 missile is one of Russia's most advanced cruise missiles and is crucial to its airstrike campaign against Ukraine.
“Western technology is allowing them to build these smarter missiles, which allow their terror attacks to get past our struggling air defenses,” said a research lead on sanctions at the KSE Institute in Kyiv Olena Bilousova.
Although sanctions have cut Russia off from some advanced components, the Kremlin's defense sector has turned to microprocessors and other advanced technologies not intended for military use.
This shift is evident in the Ukrainian analysis of the Kh-101, released in January. The study found 16 Western-made electronic parts inside the missile:
- Two components were made by STMicroelectronics, headquartered in Switzerland.
- The rest were from American chip manufacturers, including Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and Intel.
According to the agency, all these products are primarily intended for civilian use, with some being quite old.
Financial Times analysis of Russian procurement records shows how Russian companies in 2023 managed to obtain parts identical to those used in the January Kh-101 by simply purchasing them on the open market and importing them through China.
Despite the Russian documents indicating that the parts were made by Western manufacturers, all were manufactured in China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, or Thailand.
Attack on Okhmatdyt
Earlier this week, Russian forces deliberately targeted a children's hospital in Kyiv.
For more details on the Russian attack, see the material by RBC-Ukraine.
Additionally, an Israeli clinic has announced that it is ready to accept cancer patients from Okhmatdyt.
