Russia is using chips from washing machines and refrigerators in its tanks due to lack of supplies

The embargo that both the United States and a good part of the European countries have imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s troops has left the Russian economy very affected. The sanctions are being felt at all levels, but especially in everything related to technology, which is causing a real shortage.

What is being noticed? Well, among other things, in the military industry. Russia has added sophisticated weapons to its armed forces in recent years, but many of them rely on imported state-of-the-art technology that is not available now. Thus, the Russians are being forced to use computer chips destined for home appliances to repair their military hardware, Business Insider reports, citing a US official.

“We have reports from Ukrainians that when they find abandoned or destroyed Russian military equipment, it’s full of semiconductors that they took out of dishwashers and refrigerators,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

Raimondo told the committee that US technology exports to Russia fell by at least 70% as a result of the sanctions, the first of which was imposed in late February this year.

“Our approach was to deny Russia technology, technology that would cripple their ability to continue a military operation. And that is exactly what we are doing,” Raimondo told the committee.

The White House said on Sunday that US sanctions are hampering Russian attempts to repair equipment.

“Russia is struggling to replenish its weapons and military equipment. Russia’s two main tank plants, Uralvagonzavod Corporation and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, have stopped work due to a lack of foreign components,” he said.

Ukrainian forces have shared abundant evidence that Russia is struggling to properly equip its forces.

Among the most notorious cases of these situations stands out a Russian drone found by the Ukrainian troops that had been covered with adhesive tape and equipped with a generic plastic bottle cap as a fuel cap; or wrecked Russian fighter jets with rudimentary GPS receivers “glued to the dashboards” because their built-in navigation systems are so poor.