Ukraine War: Russia uses refrigerator components for tanks

Created: 05/13/2022, 16:05

By: Christian Stör

Ukraine war: Troops from Russia complain about a lack of material (symbolic photo).

© dpa

The sanctions hit Russia hard.

Because spare parts are missing, the soldiers have to resort to other means.

Moscow/Washington, DC - In war, soldiers sometimes have to be inventive.

This also applies to the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

Here, the Russian military is now apparently dependent on somehow getting the ailing tanks to run with components from kitchen appliances.

This was recently reported by the Washington Post, which referred to a statement by Gina Raimondo.

Speaking to the Senate in Washington, DC on May 11, the US Secretary of Commerce explained why she believes the sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and other countries are a complete success.

Ukraine war: Russia fights with inadequate material

Raimondo also raised the issue of Russian military war material during her hearing.

In this regard, she said that Russian soldiers are now being forced to use computer chips from dishwashers and refrigerators in some military equipment.

According to Raimondo, the United States has received reports from Ukraine that the Ukrainian military has found semiconductors in Russian tanks.

Accordingly, the soldiers use these computer chips to replace other unavailable components in their tanks.

Ukraine War: Russia makes few of its own computer chips

According to Raimondo, technology exports from the US to Russia have fallen by almost 70 percent since sanctions began in late February.

“Our approach was to deny Russia this technology – technology that would cripple their ability to continue a military operation.

And that's exactly what we're doing," said Raimondo.

In her speech, Raimondo also referred to recent reports that two Russian tank manufacturers had to stop production due to missing parts.

Russia makes few of its own computer chips and relies on imports from Asian and Western companies.

However, the world's largest semiconductor companies began to stop deliveries to Russia at the end of February.

The result is that the Russian soldiers now apparently have to use components from kitchen appliances to keep their tanks alive.

(cs)