Vladimir Putin’s clumsy Russian forces are being forced to use computer chips from old dishwashers just to run their tanks in Ukraine, according to a US official.
Just 24 hours after it emerged Putin’s pilots were attaching GPS units to jets, it now appears troops are dismantling household appliances to upgrade their gear.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, speaking before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, said Ukrainian officials had found parts of refrigerators, dishwashers, and commercial and industrial machinery inside abandoned Russian tanks. or captured.
This, she claims, is due to the sanctions applied to the state.
She said: “We have reports from Ukrainians that when they find Russian military equipment on the ground, it is full of semiconductors they have taken out of dishwashers and refrigerators.
(Photo: Reuters)
“Our approach was to deny Russian technology – technology that would cripple their ability to continue a military operation.
“And that’s exactly what we’re doing.
“Russia is struggling to replenish its weapons and military equipment. Russia’s two main tank factories – Uralvagonzavod Corporation and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant – have halted work due to lack of foreign components.
News of the questionable components adds further evidence that Putin’s troops are struggling on the front line.
According to UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, the jets used by Russia have built-in navigations that are “too poor” to perform well in the field.
Speaking this week at the National Army Museum in London to commemorate those who died in World War Two, he said the blame would lie with the Russian army’s general staff, General Valery Gerasimov.

(Photo: Reuters)
He said: “Russian vehicles had not been properly maintained and grounded many logistics vehicles, resulting in the bursting of cheap tires and truck axle hub failures, all due to bad maintenance or money for this maintenance transferred elsewhere.
“By the way, the sheer amount of Ukrainian drone footage suggests to me that they also lack a broader air defense and counter-UAV system.
“But it’s not just ground forces.
“GPS receivers were found taped to the dashboards of downed Russian SU-34s so pilots knew where they were, due to the poor quality of their own systems.”
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