00:00When Russia strikes Ukrainian cities, it uses swarms of drones to overwhelm air defences
00:05and long-range missiles that are hard to intercept.
00:10They are assembled in Russia, but built with components from around the world, including Europe.
00:19Last summer, one of those Russian rockets tore through the building in Kyiv
00:23where Daria Arabinchuk's grandfather lived.
00:28Yes, he lived on the fourth floor. That's the yellow balcony, all that's left of it.
00:33That was his apartment. Part of it, the kitchen and the bathroom, simply no longer exists.
00:40That night, Daria was in her apartment with her child when a Russian drone impacted close by.
00:47I immediately covered my daughter with a blanket. She was sleeping next to me.
00:51I covered her and thought, if shrapnel starts flying, at least I'll shield her.
00:55Then we quickly got dressed and went down to the air raid shelter.
00:59Both strikes were part of a large-scale attack that night.
01:02Ukrainian authorities say Russia launched 470 missiles and drones.
01:07When Daria left the shelter, she learned that her grandfather was stuck beneath rubble.
01:11His house had been hit by a Russian KH-101 cruise missile.
01:19These, and other types of missiles and drones, are built with Western components,
01:25that sanctions were meant to keep out of Russia.
01:28We've already identified some of the Western parts produced no later than the middle of 2025.
01:36Which means that the supply chain still works.
01:39These are some of the parts he is talking about.
01:42We've been asked not to reveal the location or the identity of our interview partner.
02:03The Iskander ballistic missile has components from two German companies.
02:07Connectors and chips from Harting and Infineon technologies.
02:12Some of the components were produced last year.
02:15Clearly not old stock.
02:17This circuit board is used in the missile's guidance system.
02:20Ukrainian authorities say that in some cases they have recovered more than 100 foreign parts
02:26from intercepted missiles, mainly from the US, China and Taiwan.
02:31In the case of European producers, most chips found in Russian missiles and drones
02:37came from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany, despite an embargo.
02:43According to the sanctions commissioner, microchips are exported legally to countries
02:48like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or China and then re-exported.
02:53The last three years we've been monitoring the export flows of selected goods from EU to
03:02third countries, usually the neighbors of the Russian Federation.
03:07And everybody can see some patterns in those volumes of exports.
03:12We don't think that the internal market of, say, Kyrgyzstan expanded six times.
03:19Probably not.
03:21One of Europe's largest chip makers, Infineon Technologies,
03:24says that all its sales were in compliance with sanctions.
03:28In addition to implementing a no Russia clause in our distribution agreements,
03:33every delivery note explicitly states that onward shipment to Russia and Belarus is prohibited.
03:40The company says it does what it can to track where their components end up,
03:44but that with an annual production of 30 billion ships, it's difficult.
03:49Harting Technologies stressed that its products are for civilian use
03:52and don't have a specific military application.
03:56These Ethernet cable connections can be found as components in PCs,
04:00just as well as in control cabinets or building automation systems.
04:06Vasilyuk says the companies haven't been doing enough to stop their products from entering Russia.
04:10He wants the EU to implement tougher sanctions and to enforce additional embargoes
04:15to stop Russia from getting around the existing restrictions through third countries.
04:20Available evidence that might, of course, have some collateral damage,
04:25but weighting this against the potential consequences,
04:29so Russia cannot acquire those parts through these countries.
04:33With each new round of sanctions, new ways to circumvent them may emerge,
04:39especially when only around 60 countries enforce them.
04:42For Daria, the issue is personal.
04:45She says companies must take responsibility for their components.
04:50They must not be sold. You must not do that.
04:53It's a business, but a business that kills people.
04:57Then she shows us the last photo of her grandfather.
05:02He died weeks after the attack.
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