Conflict minerals

tracked under Shadow ▸ Illegal extraction

state of play · Shadow

Ukraine struck Wildberries e-commerce warehouses in the St. Petersburg region for at least the fifth time in a week on July 23-24, citing the platform's documented role as a marketplace for FPV drone components, attack-drone parts, and military equipment sold to Russian armed forces in violation of international sanctions; Russian authorities have officially designated the strikes "terrorist attacks," underscoring the legal and political stakes of targeting a consumer platform. The Wildberries case is the clearest documented instance in the current conflict of a civilian e-commerce platform functioning as part of a military supply chain.

Nigeria's military and police rescued 308 people abducted from Kwara and Niger states on August 5, in what President Tinubu's office called the largest single-day rescue operation in Nigerian security history; Tinubu directed agencies to intensify early-warning and community intelligence systems. The operation reflects the scale of kidnapping networks operating across Nigeria's north-west, where bandit groups have been operating without formal ideological affiliation but with organised logistics.

Enforcement against Russia's shadow fleet is shifting from paper to the water: UK forces boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Channel and designated 27 more vessels plus insurers, under new interdiction powers. Physically seizing ships raises Russia's export costs and widens the discount on its crude, and reportedly diverted other tankers. Watch: whether other states adopt shadow-fleet interdiction; how the fleet reroutes in response; whether Western governments issue formal secondary sanctions against Wildberries for enabling drone sales; whether Russia restricts the platform's operating licence as political cover.

Tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo fund armed groups; US and EU law require importers to trace and disclose their supply chains.

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Tantalum

Rare transition metal essential to capacitors in every smartphone, server, and weapon system; over 60 percent of global supply comes from artisanal mining in conflict-affected eastern DRC.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Global Witness traces M23 'conflict coltan' through Rwanda into Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia supply chains

A 10 June 2026 investigation says Rubaya coltan, taxed by M23 at $4/kg, is relabelled Rwandan and sold into the world's biggest tech brands

Whose Money ·11 takes ·Jun 25

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