German Infineon does not know how its parts got into the latest Russian Geraniums – DW

New Geranium-5 UAVs used by the Russian army to attack Ukraine have components from China, the United States, and Germany. German microelectronics manufacturer Infineon Technologies says it does not trade with Russia and is investigating sanctions circumvention, writes Deutsche Welle.

The German company said that immediately after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it took large-scale measures to stop all direct and indirect supplies to Russia. After that, Infineon liquidated its subsidiary in Russia.

"Infineon has obliged all distributors worldwide to implement robust measures to prevent the supply of products or services on behalf of Infineon that violate the sanctions," the company said in a response to DW's request.

Infineon added that it has repeatedly communicated this position to international trading partners.

However, "it is extremely difficult to control the resale of a product throughout its entire life cycle, as Infineon produces about 30 billion chips a year."

Despite this, the company has taken "comprehensive measures to ensure compliance with the sanctions," Infineon assured.

"We rely on a variety of data sources to monitor compliance with the current rules. If we receive specific and reliable information that a company with which we have a business relationship is trading with Russia, we stop the supply and demand an explanation. This also includes cooperation with government authorities," Infineon explained.

However, the company did not answer the question of which countries German components could enter Russia through, and with which government agencies Infineon cooperates in investigations.

Since the beginning of 2026, the Russian army has begun to attack Ukraine with a new strike UAV, the Geranium-5. The War&Sanctions portal published a detailed description of the foreign components found in the drone. Most of them are from China and the United States. One of the transistors is manufactured by Infineon Technologies.

According to War&Sanctions, various Infineon components were previously found in Russian drones Geranium-2, Geranium-3, Shahed-136, S-70 Okhotnik, Gerbera, Lancet, and X-69 cruise missiles.

• In August 2025, it was reported that Russian fake drones "Gerbers" are becoming more dangerous – they are more likely to fly into Ukraine with a combat unit.
• In September, the PIU reported that Russian drones Geranium-3 with a turbojet engine were found to have 45 foreign components.