Russia’s Backdoor for Battlefield Goods From China: Central Asia
SINGAPORE—Two years after the invasion of Ukraine, drones and U.S.-made computer chips are increasingly flowing to Russia from China through Central Asian trade routes, showing the difficulty of strangling supplies to Moscow’s war effort. Trade routes snaking through former Soviet republics Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are among the many paths into Russia for so-called dual-use goods—singled out by the U.S. and its allies because they can be used on the battlefield.
Despite their efforts, Central Asia is a growing pipeline for Russia, made possible by thousands of miles of open borders, opaque trade practices and opportunistic middlemen. The goods often originate in China, where they are manufactured in some cases by major U.S. companies, which say the items are being imported by Russia without their permission.
“The Central Asian trade route is especially important because it feeds a high concentration of Western-produced goods into Russia. It is a key route for microelectronics, car parts, luxury goods—items both used on the battlefield in Ukraine and for personal consumption," said Natalie Simpson, a Russia analyst at C4ADS, a Washington-based nonprofit research firm that specializes in national security. The U.S.
and its allies maintain a list of dual-use goods targeted by sanctions, including computer chips, routers and ball bearings used in tanks. There were 45 items on the list last year, with another five added in February. Chinese exports of dual-use goods to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have surged since February 2022, when the war began, according to China’s customs data.
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