‘Economic fighters’: the volunteers helping direct sanctions against Russia

(Aisha Down – The Guardian) In August 2022, Olena Yurchenko stumbled across a heated discussion on a Russian-language online forum – and made a discovery that would ultimately affect US and European sanctions policy on the Ukraine war. The war had begun six months earlier. Yurchenko, 22, had been forced to leave Ukraine for Latvia after Russian strikes on her home town in the north. She had joined a nascent effort to pressure western companies to move their operations out of Russia. But the “name and blame” tactic only went so far, she said. Her discovery was about computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools, which are used in almost all modern precision manufacturing. Without them, Russia would have to machine-cut key military components – tank hulls and missile casings – by hand. Russia does not make CNC machines, Yurchenko found out. In fact, only a handful of companies in the world do. After over a year of investigation, and many meetings, the EU and the Biden administration put CNC machines on the sanctions list. These sanctions, which led to a 2025 fine against the US manufacturer Haas Automation, have not stopped Russia manufacturing military components. But it has been forced to go to great lengths to obtain the machines, said Yurchenko. – ‘Economic fighters’: the volunteers helping direct sanctions against Russia | Russia | The Guardian