Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – European Union is proposing a ban on video game console sales to Russia to prevent the Kremlin’s armed forces from utilizing them to handle drones sent to Ukraine.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, stated products such as Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation would be included in a fresh round of sanctions sought to overlap with the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
We are really looking into all the types of things that help Russia to wage this war to put them on the sanctions list,
Kallas briefed journalists.
Even the consoles for video games, because apparently, these are the ones that they operate drones with.
Kallas further said that chemicals “needed for the Russian military industry” would also be on the sanctions list, as well as limitations on liquefied natural gas imports. The three most major game console designers, Microsoft of the US and Japanese companies Nintendo and Sony, all suspended sales in Russia in early March 2022.
How have Western sanctions influenced Russia’s military technology?
In light of the protracted conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Western powers such as the EU, the US, and their other allies have since placed various sanctions on Russia. Most of the sanctions target areas in the industry that deal with dual-use technologies applied in warfare.
As such, Moscow apparently resorted to creative means in order to support its military machines after the various Western sanctions constrained Russia’s sourcing for military and electronics components.
According to the reports coming from Western as well as Ukraine’s intelligence communities, Russia began using semiconductors originally designed for appliances in households, like a refrigerator, to design missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in its arsenal, which include washing machines being repurposed into drones that can be part of its missile defense systems.
