Russian missiles still contain hundreds of Western components despite sanctions, FT reports
Photo: Russian missiles contain Western-made parts (Russian media)
Russian cruise missiles used in the strike on Kyiv contained more than 100 Western-made components, according to the Financial Times.
Photos of missile debris from the strike that hit a residential building in Kyiv and killed at least 24 people revealed fragments of a Kh-101 cruise missile — one of Russia’s most advanced weapons of this type.
The images were analyzed by Ukrainian officials, an independent expert, and Financial Times journalists. According to the report, the missile contained more than 100 parts manufactured in Western countries.
According to Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, all Kh-101 missiles used in the strikes on Kyiv, including the one that hit the residential building on May 14, have been examined and may have been produced as recently as the second quarter of 2026.
A Kh-101 missile analyzed after the January 20 attack, which was identical to the one that struck the high-rise in Kyiv, contained electronic components made by several foreign manufacturers.
Among them were chips produced by US companies Texas Instruments, AMD, and Kyocera AVX, as well as components from Germany’s HARTING Technology Group and the Dutch company Nexperia.
Some parts carried markings indicating they were manufactured in 2024 and 2025, after sanctions had already been imposed. Fragments recovered in January also included components of Chinese and Taiwanese origin.
On the morning of May 14, Russia launched one of the largest attacks on Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. In Kyiv alone, 24 people were killed, including three children.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the residential building in Kyiv had been struck by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile that, according to preliminary data, may have recently come off the production line.
Zelenskyy also said he had already held a meeting with Ukraine’s Defense Forces and intelligence leadership. Following the meeting, he instructed officials to prepare a response to the attack using all available capabilities of the defense sector.
