Washing machines, refrigerators, breast pumps: Russia takes parts for weapons from imported household appliances - ForumDaily
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Washing machines, refrigerators, breast pumps: Russia takes parts for weapons from imported household appliances

A sudden and unexpected surge in European exports of washing machines, refrigerators and even electric breast pumps to Russia's neighbors has officials fearing a trade boom could help Putin's war machine in Ukraine, reports Bloomberg.

Photo: IStock

Armenia imported more washing machines from the European Union in the first eight months of the year than in the last two years combined, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the EU's Eurostat database. In August, Kazakhstan imported European refrigerators worth $21,4 million, which is more than three times the amount for the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Kazakh government data shows a sharp increase in shipments of refrigerators, washing machines and electric breast pumps to Russia.

Such trade through the Eurasian states to Russia can compensate for the lack of imports from other countries, or all household appliances are dismantled to use their components and semiconductors in civilian production.

But European officials familiar with the numbers say they are concerned that at least some of the goods and their components could find military uses and are closely monitoring export growth to countries on Russia's periphery.

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Officials in Europe have already publicly said they saw parts of refrigerators and washing machines in Russian military equipment such as tanks after it invaded Ukraine. People familiar with the estimates say it's possible that components and chips from other household products were also used in military applications, albeit mostly in relatively low-end equipment.

Trade data shows, for example, that exports of electric breast pumps from the EU to Armenia almost tripled in the first half of 2022 compared to the previous year, despite a 4,3% decline in the birth rate in Armenia. Similarly, Kazakhstan's demand for EU breast pumps grew by 633% in the first half of 2022, although the country's birth rate fell by 8,4% over the same period.

Putin's war has brought Russia under sanctions in almost every sector of its economy, depriving it of imports, including chips and other components on which it has long depended from basic military equipment such as radios and weapons, to more sophisticated weapons. including missile systems, fighter jets and submarines.

Authorities in Moscow stopped publishing trade data after the invasion of Ukraine. However, according to the government of Kazakhstan, Russian demand for electric breast pumps from Kazakhstan has more than doubled in the first eight months of the year compared to all of 2021. The country also shipped $2022 million worth of washing machines to Russia in 7,5, compared to almost zero in the previous two years. Exports of refrigerators to Russia grew tenfold compared to the previous year.

Recall that global brands said that they could not close the export of socially important goods to the Russian Federation for the population of Russia. New data shows how these goods help to destroy Ukrainians.

“Even very complex Russian weapons systems are often built using run-of-the-mill microelectronic components that can be found in a range of commercial products,” said James Byrne, director of open source intelligence and analysis at the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. “It is quite possible that the Russian military-industrial complex is importing ready-made commercial goods in order to dismantle them for spare parts.”

Assessing the final destination and use of household items is complex. Armenia, Kazakhstan and Russia are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, which means that there are no customs borders between them. European companies may not want to ship goods directly to Russia, even if their products are not subject to sanctions. They may also not know that their goods are shipped to Russia.

European officials say cracking down on the trade in home appliances is difficult because the goods and their so-called sub-threshold components are often not sanctioned. This is despite the fact that the EU recently introduced new powers that allow it to impose sanctions on non-bloc entities if they help European companies evade restrictive measures.

Kazakhstan has promised not to help Russia circumvent sanctions, and there is no evidence that the government is helping Moscow to do so.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last month that the Russian military is using chips from dishwashers and refrigerators in its military equipment because they are running out of semiconductors. The Biden administration made a similar statement earlier this year, citing reports of parts found in captured Russian tanks in Ukraine.

It is not clear exactly what components can be extracted from household items, although they usually all contain microchips. And without detours for foreign goods, it will be hard for Russia to contain Ukrainian military advances on the ground.

Russia is scouring the world for weapons to use in Ukraine

European Commission spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer said the bloc is monitoring trade flows to determine where sanctions against Russia can be circumvented. The commission also traces "items used by the Russian army in Ukraine based on forensic examination of the remains of the remains of destroyed Russian weapons."

She added that discreet components of washing machines or refrigerators are commercially available in many countries and regions, and where the EU can identify items that are used in Russian weapons, it is considering subjecting them to trade restrictions. For example, under the latest measures taken earlier this month, a number of electronic components were sanctioned, García Ferrer said.
After more than eight months of fierce fighting, Russia has suffered significant losses of equipment.

US and European officials also say Moscow has depleted its stockpiles of key weapons systems such as precision-guided missiles. Ukraine, by contrast, continues to receive modern weaponry from its allies, which, along with other advantages such as motivated recruits, has shifted the balance of power on the battlefield.
Russia has been trying for years to reduce its dependence on imports for a wide range of its military hardware, and an internal review in 2021 found it fell short of almost every measure.

Russia has not been able to replace Western military components.

After the outbreak of the war, the United States insisted on stopping the supply of semiconductors to Russia. “They are not able to restore these destructive weapons systems to destroy civilians in Ukraine. This is of great importance. These things matter a lot,” President Joe Biden said on October 27.

Other countries that Russia considers partners, such as China, remain for the most part reluctant to supply it with semiconductors and key components, even if they have not signed up to sanctions imposed by the US, Europe and others.

However, Russia had a long history of evading sanctions to supply its armed forces during the Soviet era through smuggling and espionage.

An August study of 27 advanced Russian weapons systems by RUSI identified 450 unique foreign-made components, most of which were made in the United States, and most of the rest in Europe and other countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia.

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“Common components used in weapon platforms such as microprocessors, analog-to-digital converters, field-programmable gate arrays and microcontrollers can also be found in a wide range of commercial products such as televisions, automobiles, computers and cameras,” said Byrne, one from the authors of the RUSI report.

One European official noted that Russian troops also systematically seize household appliances in Ukraine and rob civilians. The thefts have been widely documented, but it is not clear how many were taken for government or personal use.

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