Russian drones with "fresh" circuit boards: components from several countries found in Shahed

In Russian Shahed-type drones shot down in March 2026, new foreign components were found, including ones of American, Swiss, Japanese, and Chinese origin. This was reported by the President’s Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Radio Liberty.

According to him, a new study of the unmanned aerial vehicles that Russia used to attack Ukraine was carried out last week. The analysis showed that despite sanctions and international controls, foreign technologies continue to be used en masse in the production of Russian weapons.

In particular, American components from late 2025 were found in the drones. Microchips from the Swiss company STMicroelectronics were also detected in the unmanned vehicles. The official separately drew attention to an increase in the number of Chinese components. According to him, the drones even contained circuit boards printed in March 2026, which indicates a very rapid introduction of new parts into combat use.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk separately commented on the situation with foreign components in Russian drones.

“This is no longer even funny. Specifically regarding Switzerland, because it’s an eternal ping-pong between the Swiss government and Italy — that it’s not us, it’s not in our country, we only have the headquarters, but the production is not here, it’s generally China. We will continue to communicate. As for China, by the way, we saw more Chinese components, we saw the circuit boards themselves printed in March 2026, which is also an interesting indicator. The date is March 2026 — these drones are already being used, which is quite interesting.”

Among the new findings, the official said, the drones also contained many Japanese components. This information has already been passed on to international partners for further action.

At the same time, for the first time in a long while, Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles did not contain components from the Dutch company NXP. In Vladyslav Vlasiuk’s view, this may indicate that pressure on the supply channels of critical technologies to the Russian military-industrial complex is producing some results.

The official noted that Ukraine has been systematically working for about three years to block deliveries of such components. This year the Ukrainian side handed over to manufacturers dozens, and possibly hundreds, of serial numbers of specific parts to facilitate internal investigations within the companies themselves.

Vlasiuk additionally emphasized that lawsuits against component manufacturers could become the next tool of pressure. According to him, American lawyers are already searching in Ukraine for people who were harmed by weapons that used parts from these companies.

Earlier we wrote:

• Kim announced municipal production of drones to shoot down “Shaheds”
• A record 49 “Shaheds” were shot down over the Mykolaiv region in one day
• Kim urged people not to record the passage of “Shaheds” over Mykolaiv
• Ukraine created its own laser air-defense system to combat drones
• Oil that can’t be sold: how US and Ukrainian maritime drones turned Russian tankers into floating museums