Washington: As part of its attempt to undermine the Russian military apparatus waging war on Ukraine, the United States significantly expanded sanctions against Russia on Wednesday. Among other things, this included focusing on Chinese companies that supply semiconductors to Russia.

Steps included increasing “the risk of secondary sanctions for foreign financial institutions that deal with Russia’s war economy,” according to the US Treasury, essentially threatening to cut off their access to the US financial system.

Additionally, it stated that it was working with the State Department to target over 300 people and organizations in Russia and other countries, such as Asia, Europe, and Africa, in an effort to limit the Russian military industrial base’s capacity to utilize specific US software and information technology (IT) services.

US Expands Russia Sanctions Targets Chips

Separately, the Commerce Department announced that it was going after Hong Kong shell businesses that were smuggling semiconductors to Russia. The actions would impact about $100 million worth of Moscow’s top priorities, which includes semiconductors.

Numerous pieces of Russian equipment, including radios, drones, and missiles, that were taken prisoner on the battlefield in Ukraine have been discovered to include chips and other technologies of US origin.

Following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Russia invaded its neighbor on a large scale in 2022, which led to a series of additional economic sanctions against Moscow by the US.

While many analysts do not expect US and other nations’ sanctions to materially change Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calculus, they believe they will both make it harder for Moscow to wage war and, over time, weaken Russia’s economy.