Russia replaced US-made Texas Instruments processors in Kinzhal missiles with domestic chips in 2023, but newer missiles are again using American processors, according to Vladyslav Vlasyuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s representative on sanctions policy.
The finding is part of a broader analysis showing that foreign electronics remain deeply embedded in Russia’s weapons industry despite years of sanctions and export controls, Vlasyuk told Kyiv Post.
A study of the Zarya-61 onboard computer used in the Kinzhal found that Russia replaced American Texas Instruments processors with domestic chips in 2023.
But the substitution was absent from a newer Zarya-61 recovered from a missile shot down in May 2026, with American processors appearing again.
Vlasyuk said the finding indicates that Russian alternatives may not have delivered the required performance.
The Zarya-61 also illustrates how Russia combines foreign electronics of different ages. One board, assembled in May 2025, contained components manufactured between 2021 and 2024, including an American Texas Instruments digital signal processor and memory made by IDT, now owned by Japan’s Renesas.
Another board contained a Texas Instruments processor marked as dating to 1986 and AMD chips manufactured in 1996.
Vlasyuk said the findings show that Russia does not necessarily need the newest foreign technology for every weapons system.
“Russia can use less modern foreign electronics, as long as it remains suitable for a particular system, while adding newer components,” he said.
Foreign components still reach Russian weapons
The Kinzhal findings are part of a wider pattern identified in recently examined Russian weapons.
A Geran-4 drone shot down in the Kyiv region on Aug. 12 contained 96 foreign-made components, according to Vlasyuk. They included parts from the US, China, Taiwan, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada.
The identified manufacturers included Texas Instruments, Amphenol, Diodes Incorporated, Kyocera AVX, Kemet, ON Semiconductor, and Vishay Intertechnology.
Seven of the components were manufactured in 2026 and another three in 2025.
Vlasyuk said an Iskander-M missile recovered at the site of a strike in the Kyiv region in early July contained an even broader range of foreign electronics.
Investigators identified 147 foreign-made components from the US, Belarus, Switzerland, Germany, China, and Japan. The components were manufactured by companies including Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Maxim Integrated, Cypress, STMicroelectronics, Macronix, Integrated Silicon Solution, and MaxLinear.
At least 21 of those components were manufactured in 2025, with others dating to 2026.
For Vlasyuk, the findings demonstrate that Russia’s problem is not the lack of any of its own electronic components.
The Iskander-M examined by Ukrainian specialists contained 36 Russian-made components and 11 from Belarus. But for complex weapons systems, Vlasyuk said, Russia’s domestic component base remains insufficient.
“It has to combine its own component base with foreign ones, and look for it in different markets and through different supply chains,” he said.
Vlasyuk argued that manufacturers and authorities have enough information to identify and restrict the components reaching Russia.
“Every manufacturer, every law enforcement agency, or export control agency has all the information sufficient to stop such supplies to the Russian Federation,” he said.