Microchips from Dutch companies are still turning up in Russian weapons, a leading Ukrainian official has told current affairs programme Nieuwsuur.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s sanctions advisor Vladyslav Vlasiuk, in The Hague for a visit, showed a microchip stamped NXP and another with the name STMicroelectronics to journalists this week. “Every Russian rocket includes parts made here in the west,” he said.

Trade data compiled by US company Importgenius, also seen by Nieuwsuur, shows that at least until the end of last year, Russia was able to access thousands of chips from Dutch firms NXP and Nexperia, and STMicroelectronics – which is registered in the Netherlands.

Importgenius says Russia was able to import 2,8000 separate shipments of microchips from Dutch firms in the last three months of the year. The chips, with a value of some €150 million, can be used in simple electronic apparatus but also end up in weapons systems and other military equipment.

Western sanctions ban the sale of microchips to Russia but the data shows the imports are carried out via countries that do not comply, such as China, Thailand and Turkey.

Vlasiuk told Nieuwsuur that the west, including the Netherlands, is not doing enough to ensure that Russia cannot import microchips. “And the chip companies themselves really must do more to prevent their products reaching Russia, he said.

NXP, Nexperia and STMicroelectronics all told Nieuwsuur that they keep to the sanctions and try to ensure that their clients also comply with them.

“The uneasy truth is that the system of sanctions and checks on chips, which is global and involves many countries and transport movements, is not watertight,” Nexperia said in its reaction.