The UK banned sending game controllers to Russia. What’s the point?

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The United Kingdom has banned the export of video game controllers to Russia, claiming the devices are being repurposed to pilot drones on the front lines in Ukraine. Experts say this move highlights the blurring lines between consumer electronics and modern warfare.

The episode also shows how bureaucrats far from the frontlines in Ukraine play a role in determining the face of the conflict by deciding what can and cannot be sold to either side. But as general-purpose consumer items have come to be used as weapons of war, the task of setting export controls may sometimes seem like a fight against windmills.

The United Kingdom’s new trade restriction comes alongside a list of other items now immediately prohibited for export to Russia, including software for oil exploitation, specific chemicals and a range of electronic devices. A total of about 150 new line items were added to the already extensive list of British export prohibitions.

“Gaming consoles will no longer be repurposed to kill in Ukraine,” said Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty of the new list’s most headline-grabbing item. The UK government said the aim was to hamper Russia’s ability to attack and throw a wrench into its industrial war machinery, as has been the stated goal of sanctions for the past three years.

The U.S. and EU have similar sanctions regimes in place, with the latter adding joysticks and game controllers earlier this year.

Nonetheless, questions remain over the effectiveness of such measures.

“If Russia wants video game controllers, they are going to find video game controllers,” said Robert Shaw, program director of the Export Control and Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. China is the likely source of the vast majority of these devices making their way to Russia already, he added.

Most video game controllers are manufactured in China or Japan, with very few, if any, produced in the UK. This raises questions about the practical effect of the ban, as it would only prevent re-exports through British ports rather than cutting off a significant manufacturing source.

The strength of sanctions by countries like the U.K. and the EU, which have limited domestic mass production of electronics but highly advanced technology, lies primarily in limiting access to cutting-edge tech in domains where the West holds a competitive edge, experts argue. These items, and the know-how needed to use or make them, are not readily available elsewhere, which means limiting their distribution is easier and more effective.

Indeed, the UK’s own export control laws are written to this effect, restricting the ability to transfer technology that is required for the development, production, or use of controlled goods to Russia.

Video game controllers don‘t exactly fit the description of a niche European high-tech item like the Dutch microchip-making machines central to global computer production, specialized British telecommunications devices or German instruments for measuring microscopic vibrations.

But that doesn‘t mean the ban is without merit, said Shaw, the export control specialist. For one, it’s good publicity and grabs people’s attention, which is of value in its own right, he said.

“It will have an impact in increasing awareness of the dual-use nature of so many items and how they can be used to advantage in an active military conflict,” Shaw said. Particularly the video game enthusiast and consumer electronics worlds have shown keen interest in this story, despite not being the usual target audience for the dry minutiae of British sanctions policy.

“Having that little bit of awareness might be enough to ask questions regarding new business partners or strange shipping routes that are going to Central Asia,” Shaw explained. It can help raise red flags when something is amiss, leading to questions like “why are they ordering these, and why are we sending them to a market that’s very small?”

Central Asian countries, Turkey and India, among others, have served as key transshipment hubs to evade Western sanctions and import restricted goods to Russia.

The ban also broadens the legal framework available to UK authorities to combat illicit trade with Russia. If a shipment coming from the UK is seized on suspicion that it might be diverted for military use by Russia against Ukraine, Shaw said, authorities could seize it and start investigating on firm legal ground.

Although Western allies tend to have closely matching sanctions lists, China, the origin of most of the electronics flowing into Russia, is unlikely to follow suit in formally banning controllers. But there is the possibility that Beijing may exert informal influence. Clouded in diplomatic language, Chinese government officials have in the past tried to walk a tightrope between supporting their “strategic partner,” Russia, and staying in good graces with Western governments. And some Chinese companies may even feel it best to hold off on some sales for risk of jeopardizing their position in Western markets, Shaw noted.

Indications that this may be happening already exist.

DJI, the major Chinese consumer drone maker, said it has addressed the use of its products in war zones, for example.

The company released a statement just months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that “we absolutely deplore any use of our products to cause harm.” Distributors, resellers and business partners “have committed … not to sell DJI products to customers who clearly plan to use them for military purposes,” the statement said.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

荷兰海牙——英国已禁止向俄罗斯出口电子游戏手柄，声称这些设备被改装用于在乌克兰前线操控无人机。专家表示，此举凸显了消费电子产品与现代战争之间界限的日益模糊。

这一集还揭示了远离乌克兰前线的官僚们如何通过决定哪些商品可以出售给交战双方、哪些商品不能出售，从而影响冲突的走向。但随着普通消费品被用作战争武器，制定出口管制措施有时就像是在与风车作战。

英国新出台的贸易限制措施，与一系列其他立即禁止出口到俄罗斯的商品清单同时生效，其中包括石油开采软件、特定化学品和一系列电子设备。此次新增的商品种类约150种，使其在英国原本就十分庞大的出口禁令清单中进一步扩大。

英国外交部国务大臣斯蒂芬·道蒂在谈到新清单中最引人注目的一项时表示：“游戏机将不再被用于在乌克兰杀人。”英国政府称，此举旨在削弱俄罗斯发动袭击的能力，并扰乱其工业战争机器，这正是过去三年制裁的既定目标。

美国和欧盟都实施了类似的制裁制度，欧盟今年早些时候还将游戏手柄和游戏控制器也列入了制裁范围。

然而，这些措施的有效性仍然存在疑问。

“如果俄罗斯想要游戏手柄，他们总能找到办法，”米德尔伯里国际研究学院詹姆斯·马丁防扩散研究中心出口管制与防扩散项目主任罗伯特·肖表示。他还补充说，目前流入俄罗斯的这些设备绝大多数可能来自中国。

大多数游戏手柄产自中国或日本，英国本土生产的寥寥无几，甚至几乎没有。这就引发了人们对这项禁令实际效果的质疑，因为它只会阻止通过英国港口的再出口，而无法真正切断重要的生产来源。

专家认为，英国和欧盟等国实施的制裁之所以有效，主要在于限制了西方在尖端技术领域的竞争优势，而这些制裁虽然限制了国内电子产品的大规模生产，但却限制了高度先进技术的获取。这些产品及其使用或制造所需的技术在其他地方并不容易获得，这意味着限制其流通更加容易也更加有效。

事实上，英国自身的出口管制法律正是如此规定的，限制了向俄罗斯转让开发、生产或使用受管制商品所需的技术的能力。

视频游戏控制器并不完全符合欧洲小众高科技产品的描述，例如荷兰的微芯片制造机（对全球计算机生产至关重要）、英国的专用电信设备或德国的用于测量微观振动的仪器。

但出口管制专家肖恩表示，这并不意味着禁令毫无道理。他说，首先，禁令能起到很好的宣传作用，吸引公众的注意力，这本身就很有价值。

肖恩表示：“这将有助于提高人们对众多物品两用性质的认识，以及如何在军事冲突中利用这些物品取得优势。” 尽管电子游戏爱好者和消费电子产品领域并非英国制裁政策枯燥细节的通常目标受众，但他们对这一事件表现出了浓厚的兴趣。

“只要具备一点点意识，就足以对新的商业伙伴或运往中亚的奇怪运输路线提出疑问，”肖解释说。这有助于在出现异常情况时发出警报，从而引发诸如“他们为什么要订购这些东西？我们为什么要把它们运往一个非常小的市场？”之类的问题。

中亚国家、土耳其和印度等国一直是重要的转运枢纽，用来规避西方制裁，向俄罗斯进口受限商品。

这项禁令还扩大了英国当局打击与俄罗斯非法贸易的法律框架。肖恩表示，如果从英国运出的货物因涉嫌可能被俄罗斯用于对乌克兰的军事用途而被扣押，当局可以依法扣押并展开调查。

尽管西方盟友的制裁名单往往高度一致，但作为流入俄罗斯的大部分电子产品的来源国，中国不太可能正式禁止智能控制器。不过，北京方面或许会施加非正式的影响。中国政府官员过去常常试图在支持其“战略伙伴”俄罗斯和维护与西方政府的关系之间寻求平衡，而这种做法往往带有外交辞令的色彩。肖指出，一些中国企业甚至可能认为，为了避免损害其在西方市场的地位，最好还是暂停部分产品的销售。

已有迹象表明这种情况可能正在发生。

中国主要消费级无人机制造商大疆创新表示，该公司已经解决了其产品在战区等地的使用问题。

在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰数月后，该公司发表声明称，“我们坚决谴责任何利用我们的产品造成伤害的行为。”声明还表示，分销商、经销商和商业伙伴“已承诺……不会向明确计划将大疆产品用于军事用途的客户出售产品”。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。