Ukraine found tens of thousands of foreign parts, some Western-made, in Russian drones and missiles fired on Ukraine over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
“During the massive combined strike on Ukraine on the night of 5 October, Russia used 549 weapon systems containing 102,785 foreign-made components,” Zelenskyy said on social media, referring to an attack in the early hours of Sunday.
Russia fired almost 500 drones and over 50 missiles at Ukraine that night, killing five people, including in the western Lviv region hundreds of kilometres from the front line, and damaging its energy infrastructure.
Parts of drones and missiles intercepted in the attack came “from companies in the United States, China and Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Netherlands,” Zelenskyy said.
Among them were converters, sensors and microcomputers, he added, warning that Ukraine was preparing new sanctions against those involved.
The British government said it took Ukraine’s accusations “incredibly seriously”.
“Non-compliance with sanctions is a serious offence punishable through large financial penalties or criminal prosecution,” it said.
(cp)
