A Belarusian state-owned enterprise has been supplying Russia with microchips crucial for missile production, using Western-manufactured equipment, components and raw materials in violation of international sanctions, according to an investigation by the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC), The Moscow Times reports.

The report found that that a company called Integral, a state-controlled Belarusian microelectronics producer, has been a key supplier of chips used in Russian missiles, including the Russian-made missiles Iskander, Kh-101, Kh-59M2A and S-300. Ukraine’s Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) security service confirmed that these components are present in Russian weapons.

Russia’s growing missile stockpile

Western technology sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 were designed to cut Moscow off from essential military technology, but have largely failed thanks to Russia’s partners that have helped it evade sanctions; in 2024 Russia imported only 2% less technology by value than the year before.

Initially, they appeared to be effective – by late 2022, Ukraine’s then-Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that Russia’s stock of Iskander missiles had fallen to just 119 from an initial 900. However, by December 2024, Russia was producing approximately 50 Iskander missiles per month, some of which are stationed in Kaliningrad and Belarus, where they threaten both the EU and Ukraine, according to Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

The continued supply of advanced weaponry, despite ongoing sanctions, is linked to the procurement of key microchips. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko previously stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to “pay any amount of money for a microelectronics product.”

Integral’s role and sanctions evasion

Integral has played a central role in providing Russia with sanctioned technology. Between March 2022 and June 2024 the company exported over 6mn microchips worth $130mn to Russia, accounting for 80% of all Belarusian microchip exports to the country during this period. Other channels of supply have been identified as major routes for the import of illicit chips to Russia, including trading companies in Hong Kong and Estonia.

The surge in demand has led to a dramatic rise in Integral’s profits: 2023 net profits were BYN150mn ($50mn), eleven times higher than in 2022 and 40 times higher than in 2021.

According to the investigation, the largest Russian buyers of Integral microchips between March 2022 and July 2024 were:

1. Integral-Zapad (Smolensk, Russia): $31.3mn
2. Spets-Elektronkomplekt (Russia): $30mn
3. Integral Spb (St. Petersburg, Russia): $16.8mn
4. Innovatsionnye Tekhnologii (Russia): $16.7mn
5. Don (Russia): $9.5mn
6. Radiant-EK (Russia): $5.3mn

Several of these firms are linked to the Russian defence industry, including Angstrem, a major Russian microchip manufacturer with past certification from the Russian Defence Ministry.

Use of Western technology and raw materials

Despite Western sanctions, Integral continues to use equipment and materials from Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Japan and the US to manufacture microchips. BIC identified key Western suppliers whose components have been found in Integral’s production lines:

• Carl Zeiss Axiotron (Germany): Microscopes for chip quality control.
• VAT Vakuumventile (Switzerland): Vacuum valves.
• Edwards (UK): Vacuum systems.
• DISCO Corporation (Japan): Slicers for wafer separation.
• HORIBA (Japan): Material analysis equipment.
• Cascade Microtech (US): Test systems for chip performance validation.

These components require a steady supply of high-purity hydrochloric acid, a critical material for semiconductor manufacturing. BIC uncovered a sanctions-evading supply chain transporting 99.999% pure hydrochloric acid from Germany’s Wacker Chemie, via Poland, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Russia, to Integral.

Documents obtained by BIC indicate that Kazakh company United Trading Group acted as an intermediary, despite having just one employee and no known production facilities. In 2024, new intermediaries, Siltron (Russia) and Digna-NTR (Belarus), facilitated direct deliveries to Integral, raising suspicions of ongoing sanctions violations.