Companies in Kyrgyzstan are supplying Russia with sanctioned equipment and electronics, bypassing Western sanctions, the Washington Post has reported on July 19.
U.S. officials cited expressed concern about the increasing number of import-export companies in the country. They profit from Russia's demand for Asian and European components for drones, aircraft parts and bomb circuitry, which cannot be obtained directly due to sanctions.
According to the Washington Post, more often than not "such goods pass into Russia uninterrupted" through the Central Asian country.
Public records show that the overall volume of the country's exports to Russia jumped by 250% over the previous year, before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The paper reported that "for some items, such as rifle scopes, there was no previous record of Kyrgyzstan ever exporting such goods to Russia."
The Biden administration is allegedly preparing sanctions against Kyrgyzstan in response. These could come as early as this week, according to WP sources.
However, according to Reuters, Kyrgyzstan has not been informed by the United States of possible action against Kyrgyzstan, referring to a Kyrgyz official as a source.
"We cannot be expected to police every entrepreneur and approve every transaction," said the source, adding that the country is in close contact with the relevant US and European authorities.
The report comes as Ukraine calls for stricter sanctions following the discovery of western-made parts in a Russian drone that was shot down on July 18 above Mykolaiv. The Irish Department of Trade has said it is investigating how the components allegedly made in Ireland ended up in the Iranian-made Shahed drone.
National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov had also reported on June 3 that the Ukrainian authorities found parts inside drones "that are not produced either in Iran or in Russia."
Francis Farrell
(Updated: )
