The Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO) welcomes the emergence of new lawsuits filed in the United States on behalf of Ukrainians affected by Russian attacks, targeting several American manufacturers and a distributor of microelectronics whose components were found in Russian weapons. The lawsuits involve Texas Instruments, AMD, Intel, and the distributor Mouser Electronics. Plaintiffs allege that these companies allowed corporate negligence that enabled their products—microchips, processors, and programmable logic devices—to reach Russia and Iran, in violation of sanctions and export restrictions.
The cases are brought by U.S. attorney Michael Watts and the law firm Baker & Hostetler on behalf of Ukrainians harmed by Russian attacks between 2023 and 2025. The preparation of the lawsuits also involved the State Capture Accountability Project, the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), and the human rights group Protea.
One incident cited in the lawsuits is the Shahed drone attack on Rzhyshchiv in Kyiv region on 22 March 2023. The drones struck a school and two dormitories, killing nine people and injuring 29. This case was analyzed in detail in a joint NAKO–IPHR report, “Terror in the Details: Western-made Components in Russia’s Shahed-136 Attacks”.
Why are these lawsuits so important, and why the US? American electronics make up 60–80% of various types of Russian weapons and military equipment, as Russia (and Iran) lack high-quality alternatives to Western microchips. NAKO research, “Globalization, Weaponized: Foreign Components in Weapons and Equipment Used by the Russian Army”, identified at least 293 components from 57 American companies in 21 types of Russian weapons. U.S. microelectronics are also widely used in Russian combat aircraft and missiles, including North Korean systems modeled on Russian Iskander missiles.
Viktoriia Vyshnivska, senior researcher at NAKO, emphasizes the critical role of microelectronic components in Russia’s ability to continue missile attacks:
“Despite sanctions, export controls, and compliance measures, dual-use microelectronics continue to reach Russia through various channels. Russia does not have high-quality equivalents to Western chips—no matter how (un)critical they seem. That is why every microchip, and especially the FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Array) mentioned in these lawsuits, is so important for them. Without these components, a missile or drone is just an explosive in a package.”
According to Vyshnivska, NAKO often receives only brief responses from manufacturers to inquiries—they are unwilling to share details or engage in dialogue, often citing old stock, re-export schemes, counterfeit components, or opaque distribution channels.
This is why these lawsuits are so important: they will allow the largest microelectronics manufacturers to demonstrate whether they are truly doing enough to prevent their products from being diverted to Russia.