Russia got components worth $2.9 billion from West despite sanctions, Kyiv says

(Reuters) - Western companies supplied Russia with $2.9 billion worth of components that can be used for military production in the first 10 months of 2023 despite sanctions on Moscow, the Ukrainian president's office said on Wednesday.

Kyiv has been pressing its allies to tighten sanctions on Russia and close export control loopholes, saying that Moscow is still able to import military goods for its war in Ukraine.

Russia's 2023 imports of military goods totalled 90% of the levels that were registered before the full-scale invasion in February, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said.

It cited research by a working group run by Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow. The research focused on Russian attempts to circumvent export control sanctions on military goods.

"The products of more than 250 Western companies were found in samples of destroyed or captured Russian weapons," Zelenskiy's office said.

The Kyiv School of Economics, which participated in the research, said that almost 2,800 foreign components were found in Russian military equipment, including the "Kinzhal" hypersonic missiles that Moscow uses for air strikes on Ukraine.

"In fact, 95% of all parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield were sourced from producers in coalition countries, with 72% accounted for by U.S.-based companies alone," the study said.

Russia did not immediately comment on the remarks by Zelenskiy's office.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Timothy Heritage)