War in Ukraine, the bitter discovery about Russian missiles used against the children’s hospital

Western components are used in Russian Kh-101 cruise missiles. A Kh-101 was used on Monday against the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kiev, in an attack that killed six civilians, including four children. The Kh-101 was launched from an airplane: on board it was carrying a load of explosives weighing several hundred kilograms, a theory confirmed by several videos in which the wings, nose, fuselage and external engine typical of the missile can be seen, but which Moscow rejects as propaganda. Production of the Kh-101 increased eightfold, from 56 in 2021 to 420 last year (data from the Royal United Services Institute, Rusi). In 2022, Rusi again reported that 31 foreign components were used to assemble the missile, including parts supplied by the two American companies Intel and Xilinx.

As experts cited by the Financial Times explain, other non-military components purchased at random from Russia also cause problems, resulting in a 20% drop in missiles used. Illegal imports occur via China. A problem, as well as that of fuels that circumvent sanctions, that the West is unable to contain.