Kyiv
In a video address on Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that Russia has utilized over 2,000 Shahed drones and missiles equipped with Western components in its attacks against Ukraine during October. He emphasized the need for tighter controls on the export of specialized components, citing that these drones incorporated more than 170,000 individual parts sourced from companies in China, Europe, and the United States.
Zelensky stated, ‘This number means more than 170,000 components that should have been blocked from being supplied to Russia,’ highlighting critical elements such as microchips, microcontrollers, and processors that are essential for the operation of these drones. He called on the international community to implement stricter sanctions against Moscow, asserting that existing restrictions must be made more effective to prevent Russia from circumventing them.
‘Russia is gradually ramping up its daily attacks with Shahed drones and missiles, still using Western components to do so,’ he said, noting that nearly every day in October, Russia launched these drones against Ukraine.
Zelensky further remarked, ‘Every scheme to bypass sanctions is a crime against people and the world,’ linking these activities to the empowerment of regimes in Iran and North Korea, which he described as a global threat. He called for unified global pressure to combat these issues effectively.
These comments from Zelensky followed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s announcement that approximately 10,000 North Korean soldiers are currently in Russia, with around 8,000 of them deployed in the Kursk region.
