A Chinese company that owns a California manufacturing plant has sent hundreds of shipments of restricted dual-use electronics to Russia since the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, including to sanctioned companies with ties to the Russian military.
At least one component manufactured by the company, Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Company Limited, was found in a Russian weapons guidance system recovered from the battlefield in Ukraine, according to a public database maintained by the Ukrainian military.
Yangjie Technology, located in Yangzhou Province northwest of Shanghai, has sent more than 200 shipments of specific goods to Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to customs records obtained by C4ADS, a Washington-based, nonprofit data-analysis and global-research organization.
The listed contents of those shipments -- totaling at least 238 -- included electronic components categorized as "high-priority" by the United States due to their potential use in Russian weapons systems, according to the data obtained by C4ADS and shared with RFE/RL, which independently corroborated more than 150 such shipments.
At least 17 such shipments were sent to a Russian electronics firm hit by U.S. sanctions, customs records show.
The findings further highlight the difficulty Western countries have had in trying to choke off the Russian military's access to Western technology for use in its weapons and operations as its war on Ukraine continues.
China's relationship with Moscow has deepened over the course of the war, both strategically and economically, while Beijing has also aimed to limit blowback from the West, in particular the United States, its largest trading partner.
Washington and the European Union have sanctioned some Chinese companies for providing dual-use technologies that aid Russian forces on the battlefield. After months of pressure, China in October released new export-control regulations aimed at constraining shipments of dual-use goods to Russia.
Still, Western officials have said the flow of goods from China has played a significant role in boosting Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The items shipped by Yangjie Technology, according to the customs records, include certain types of diodes, as well as specific transistors, an electronic device that amplifies or switches electrical currents.
The Ukrainian military has recovered least one diode produced by Yangjie Technology from a module used in a Russian guidance system known as UMPK, according to a Ukrainian database of foreign-made components in Russian weapons systems. UMPK is used to provide guided, navigational ability to air-dropped bombs -- known as glide bombs -- that Russia has deployed to devastating effect in Ukraine.
Yangjie Technology also sent at least 173 shipments of "high-priority" dual-use technology to the Russian company Simmetron Electronic Components. Simmetron was hit with U.S. sanctions in May 2023 as part of a broad series of measures aimed to "degrade the Russian Federation's capacity to wage war against Ukraine."
At least three of those shipments were sent to Simmetron in August-September 2023, customs records show.
Neither Yangjie nor Simmetron responded to e-mails from RFE/RL seeking comment.
California Connections
A major Chinese electronics and semiconductor manufacturer, Yangjie has been listed on the Shanghai stock exchange since 2014. Last year, the company's international shares -- Global Depository Receipts – began trading on the Swiss stock exchange.
As part of the deal, the company appointed U.S. financial services giant Citibank to be the depository bank, serving as the go-between for traders buying and selling the international shares.
Citigroup declined to comment specifically on the company's knowledge or awareness of possible sanctions violations.
"Citi is committed to conducting business with clients in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate. We have controls, policies, and processes in place to monitor adherence to these obligations including sanctions," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
In 2015, Yangjie closed on a deal to buy a U.S.-based semiconductor company called Micro Commercial Components, which says it makes "high-quality discrete semiconductors," some of which can be used in military technology. Headquartered in Simi Valley, California, Micro operates several research facilities in Japan, China, and Taiwan.
In an e-mail to RFE/RL, Micro Commercial Components said it complies with all U.S. sanctions and guidelines. The company forwarded a copy of its export compliance policies that read: "The buyer must fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations regarding the purchase, sale, shipment, export, re-export, transfer, or use of the products."
A Russian company called VM Components, working under the name Platan and describing itself as a leading provider of electronics components in Russia, received more than three dozen shipments from Yangjie as well, according to customs records.
VM Components is part of a network of companies that work closely with another sanctioned company, JSC Roselektronika, and a Russian entity owned by the Federal Security Service, Russia's main domestic security agency, records reviewed by RFE/RL and C4ADS reveal. The entity is known more widely as the FSB Criminalistics Institute, or by its military code, 34435.
A December 2020 joint investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider, CNN, and Der Spiegel found Russian security service officers linked to the poisoning of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny in August of that year worked under that military unit.
Navalny died in a Russian prison under unclear circumstances in February 2024.
It is unclear from customs records whether the FSB Criminalistics Institute received specific items shipped by Yangjie.
VM Components did not respond to a written request for comment.
