EXCLUSIVE: The UK, the United States and the European Union have issued several rounds of sanctions over the past 15 months to cripple Russia and its attempt to conquer territories in Ukraine.
By Express – Alice Scarsi
May 25, 2023
Sanctions issued by Western countries against Russia over the past 15 months are having an increasing impact on Vladimir Putin’s country. The economic measures and bans on exports are seemingly pushing the country to provide its soldiers with equipment filled with parts from household appliances. Dr Lawrence Haar, senior lecturer at the University of Brighton’s School of Business and Law, discussed reports focused on Russia’s financial struggle.
He told Express.co.uk: “They’re resourcing, we know there’s lots of illegal trade going through other countries, I’m just telling you what I’ve read in the press as well.
“They’re repurposing things like computers that used to go into washing machines and now are going into missiles.”
The remark by Dr Haar comes a few days after US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told her country’s Senate she had seen reports from Ukrainians claiming that, analysing some of the Russian military equipment on the ground, they found it “filled with semiconductors that they took out of dishwashers and refrigerators”.
Ms Raimondo added US technology exports to Russia have fallen by nearly 70 per cent since Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February last year.
Sanctions issued by the UK are also covering, among others, the transfer of technology and providing technical assistance to Russia, in a bid to cripple the country’s ability to continue its military operations in Ukraine.
Russia’s crude oil and energy exports have also been hugely impacted by the sanctions.
Dr Haar, whose research focuses on the application of financial-economic theory to the energy, petroleum and natural resource sectors, believes the “burden on the Russian economy grows by the day”.
Asked about the effects the Western sanctions are having in Moscow, he said: “They managed to keep some of their exports going, like discounted oil and natural gas that are being sold somewhere else at a slight discount.
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Read More: Express – Russia ‘using washing machine parts in missiles’ as Putin feels the heat from sanctions
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