Precision equipment for Russian arms makers came from U.S.-allied Taiwan

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

WP EXCLUSIVE

Precision equipment for Russian arms makers came from U.S.-allied Taiwan

Moscow-based importer also sought to supply a secretive Kremlin effort to mass-produce attack drones, a Post examination found

By Dalton Bennett, Mary Ilyushina, Lily Kuo and Pei-Lin Wu
February 1, 2024 at 8:05 a.m. EST

It had been a busy year for the employees gathered in June for I Machine Technology’s corporate retreat at a resort on Russia’s Black Sea coast. With war raging in Ukraine, the Russian defense industry was hungry for the advanced manufacturing equipment the Moscow-based supplier specialized in importing.

{snip}

Since January 2023, I Machine Technology has imported over $20 million of sophisticated equipment called CNC machine tools made in Taiwan, a U.S. strategic partner, according to trade records and Russian tax documents obtained by The Washington Post. The computer-controlled machines are used for the complex and precise manufacturing that is critical in many industries, including weapons production.

The Taiwan-made machines accounted for virtually all of the Russian company’s imports in the first seven months of last year, according to the records, and the company’s sales during that period were overwhelmingly to the Russian defense industry. Bredikhin also sought to make the machines available for a secretive Russian effort to mass-produce the attack drones that have unleashed horrors on the U.S.-backed Ukrainian army, according to an invitation sent to one of the project managers overseeing engine construction for the drone program.

{snip}

Ilyushina reported from Riga, Latvia. Kuo and Wu reported from Taipei.

By Dalton Bennett
Dalton Bennett is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at The Washington Post, where he has worked since 2016 after five years covering conflict with the AP. Twitter https://twitter.com/ddaltonbennett

By Mary Ilyushina
Mary Ilyushina, a reporter on the Foreign Desk of The Washington Post, covers Russia and the region. She began her career in independent Russian media before joining CNN’s Moscow bureau as a field producer in 2017. She has been with The Post since 2021. She speaks Russian, English, Ukrainian and Arabic. Twitter https://twitter.com/maryilyushina

By Lily Kuo
Lily Kuo is The Washington Post's China bureau chief. She previously served as the Beijing bureau chief for the Guardian. Before that she reported for Quartz in Kenya, Hong Kong and New York, and for Reuters in New York and Washington. Twitter https://twitter.com/lilkuo

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/02/01/taiwan-russia-sanctions-cnc/

[former9thward]

1. And this is the country we are supposed to defend?

[PSPS]

3. Makes one wonder, doesn't it? A purported "U.S. strategic partner" supplying the enemy.

[Igel]

4. Yup. But I can't read the WaPo article to see if the holes in the argument were plugged.

1. Pre-existing contracts were to be honored. A lot of media act like being sued into bankruptcy was required by the sanctions. It wasn't. Was this under an old(er) contract?

2. Were the contracts transparent or did a fake company do the deal or was deceit used in some other way in procurement.

3. Was this kind of deal permitted by the government or was it on contravention of Taiwanese law?

[ck4829]

5. We could say the same thing about Israel trying to keep up being buddy-buddy with Russia despite recent events

[DoBW]

2. divide and conquer

taking this with a grain of salt