Bangkok, Thailand – U.S. efforts to cripple Russia's war machine in Ukraine have trapped an unlikely target far from Moscow: Malaysia's multi-billion dollar semiconductor industry.

Malaysian semiconductor manufacturer Jatronics SDN BHD is among nearly 300 companies that Washington imposed US sanctions on last month because of their alleged ties to Russian arms suppliers.

Kuala Lumpur-based Jatronics is accused of supplying Russia with electronic parts and components that Moscow needs to sustain the conflict.

Russian customs data show that one of the Russian companies that has supplied Jatronics since Moscow's large-scale invasion in February 2022 has already been sanctioned by Western governments over its alleged links to the Russian arms industry.

The latest sanctions, which came into force on May 1, freeze all US assets of the companies concerned and prohibit anyone under US jurisdiction from dealing with them. This effectively excludes these companies from the US financial system.

US authorities have not made any statement that they know with certainty whether the components supplied by Jatronics were actually used in military equipment.

“Jatronics has supplied these components to Russian-based companies that supply Russia’s military-industrial complex,” a US State Department spokesman told Al Jazeera.

According to the spokesman, the materials that Jatronics delivered to Russia included items from Category 1 of the US Department of Commerce's High Priority Items List, which was created in the wake of the invasion to prevent Russia from gaining access to technologies necessary for the war effort.

The Commerce Department describes the Tier 1 items as those “that raise the greatest concerns due to their critical role in the production of modern Russian precision-guided weapons systems, the lack of Russian domestic production, and the limited number of global manufacturers.”

Jatronics declined to comment.

Russian customs data analyzed by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a Washington-based think tank, supports the U.S. government's claims.

It points to dozens of deliveries since the invasion to companies in Russia, some of which are their own customers in the expanding Russian arms industry.

According to data provided to Al Jazeera, Jatronics made more than 50 deliveries worth over $3 million to companies in Russia between April 2022 and September 2023.

The materials included microchips, semiconductors and silicon wafers, the raw material used to make semiconductors.

“Microchips, which make up the majority of items supplied by Jatronics, are particularly notable for their dual-use capabilities. For example, in Russia, American-designed microchips have frequently been found in intercepted or shot down Russian cruise missiles, fighter jets and drones,” C4ADS analyst Allen Maggard told Al Jazeera.

According to the data, Jatronics delivered to eight different companies in Russia.

This includes OOO Planar, which the US sanctioned in March 2022.

At the time, the US State Department said Planar “specialized in the procurement of foreign technology for Russia’s military programs, including Russia’s military space programs.”

Planar's main customer is the Izhevsk Radio Plant, “which develops products and technologies for the Russian military,” it said.

The factory's website states that its projects include navigation systems for drones. Its “partners” also include the Russian Interior Ministry, which is responsible for the country's police.

The data also shows that Jatronics has supplied to a Russian company called Design Center Kristal.

The Kristal Design Center website states that the company's partners include Kamaz, Russia's largest truck manufacturer, which at the time of the deliveries was also subject to sanctions by the United States and other Western governments for supplying the Russian military.

Maggard said Jatronics could have been aware of its customers' military ties.

“Jatronics had the opportunity to identify the links between these companies and the Russian defense sector. Other exporters should learn to recognize the numerous warning signals emitted by some of Jatronics' customers,” he said.

While chipmakers may not be aware of these signs, Maggard added, they could hire companies specializing in such due diligence checks when doing business with Russia.

The latest US sanctions come at a time when Malaysia is touting its geopolitical “neutrality” and seeking to become a key hub in the global semiconductor supply chain.

In April 2022, just weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion, the Malaysian ambassador to Russia sparked controversy when he told Russian media that the country would consider “any request” for semiconductors.

In a keynote speech at the SEMICON Southeast Asia 2024 technology conference last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim portrayed his country as the ideal “neutral and non-aligned” host for semiconductor manufacturers amid the U.S.-China technology war and said his government would seek to attract $100 billion in new investment.

While the policy may benefit Anwar's government economically and politically by attracting foreign investment and fending off Western pressure to take sides, it also leaves domestic companies operating abroad vulnerable to sanctions like those now imposed on Jatronics, said Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington.

“They are preparing sanctions against Malaysia. Malaysia is clearly under US surveillance right now,” Abuza told Al Jazeera.

In December, the US imposed sanctions on four Malaysia-based companies for allegedly helping to smuggle drone parts into Iran. Washington accuses Iran of selling drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Earlier this month, a senior U.S. Treasury official visited Malaysia to alert the government to the sanctions risk it faces if it allegedly allows Iranian oil and funds to flow through the country for “terrorist groups.”

The Malaysian government said in a comment on the visit that it attached more importance to the sanctions imposed by the United Nations than to those imposed by individual countries.

But with the war in Ukraine continuing, Abuza said, the US is likely to crack down even harder on countries that allegedly help its enemies.

“The Americans really believe that if we can really stop the Russian global supply chains trying to evade sanctions, they can help the Ukrainians achieve their strategic goals, and Malaysia has proven to be an important cog in the Russian machine,” he said.

Sanctions send the message: “Yes, you can sell to the Russians, but you lose access to the US and European markets,” Abuza added.

“So these sanctions are really a way to change behavior, not just punish. We're trying to signal that selling to the Russians is just very short-sighted from a business perspective.”

Malaysian government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment on the new sanctions.