The U.S. begun disrupting the world's largest electronics supply hubs to Russia

It took six months for U.S. and allied intelligence to collect the necessary data and prepare the documentation to be submitted to the relevant U.S. government agencies so that they could legally impose sanctions on more than 150 intermediary companies that resold electronics to Russia.

The new package of U.S. sanctions, which came into effect this Thursday, is one of the largest in 2023, aimed at cutting off the channels through which high-tech products under sanctions are delivered to Russia, The Wall Street Journal reports.

These are chips, as well as parts for satellites and navigation equipment, which the Kremlin continues to purchase in the West through a network of intermediaries in China, Turkey, Hungary and the United Arab Emirates.

Among the 150 legal entities and individuals against whom the United States imposed sanctions are several Turkish firms that, according to U.S. intelligence, have made more than 100 deliveries to Russian companies involved in the production of military drones and cruise missiles.

Two Finnish companies and their top executives from France and Estonia were also blacklisted. Siberica and Luminor sent cameras for drones, high-resolution optical filters and lithium batteries to Russia. The recipients of these goods are linked to the Russian military-industrial complex.

In addition to the intermediary companies, Ak Bars Banc, which has become one of Russia's key settlement centers in the UAE, was sanctioned. Last year, the bank, which belonged to the government of Tatarstan before the war, began conducting transactions in dirhams and opened correspondent accounts in two banks in Dubai.

Now all these banks are cut off from making payments in dollars and euros.