A Supply Chain Turned Hostile... The Dilemma of Zaporizhzhia [War & Business]

Supplied Weapon Components to Russia Since the Soviet Era
Now Targeted by Russian Bombing After the War
South Korea Must Act Swiftly on Supply Chain Defense Measures

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, occupied by Russian forces since last March. Enerhodar, Ukraine - Reuters·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Zaporizhzhia, which has recently emerged as a major battleground between Ukraine and Russia, is originally known as a key defense industry city in Ukraine. The headquarters and factories of Motor Sich, the world's largest combat aircraft engine manufacturer, are concentrated in Zaporizhzhia. The engines for various combat aircraft, helicopters, and ballistic missiles currently being used by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine were all produced and exported from here.

Since the Soviet era, the cities of Dnipro, located in the midstream, and Zaporizhzhia, located downstream along the Dnipro River that runs north to south through Ukraine, have been major military bases where the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were produced and launched.

The reason why the main space rocket of Ukraine’s rocket manufacturer Yuzhnoye is named ‘Dnipro’ also originates here. This rocket was used in 2013 to launch South Korea’s ‘Arirang 5’ satellite.

After Russia’s forced annexation of Crimea in 2014, arms exports to Russia were banned, and at one point China attempted to acquire Motor Sich, bringing international attention to Zaporizhzhia. At that time, China had succeeded in developing an aircraft carrier but failed to produce powerful engines capable of takeoff and landing for combat aircraft, which led to the attempt to acquire Motor Sich.

In 2017, when China acquired a large stake in Motor Sich through a state-owned enterprise, the then U.S. Trump administration pressured the Ukrainian government to prohibit the sale of Motor Sich. Ultimately, in May last year, the Ukrainian government declared the nationalization of Motor Sich, causing China’s attempt to secure combat aircraft engines to fail.

Currently, Russia has been continuing its offensive on Zaporizhzhia for over half a year to seize control of these Motor Sich factories. As Russian defense companies, which relied on Motor Sich for key combat aircraft parts, find it increasingly difficult to obtain components due to sanctions against Russia, concerns are rising that sustaining the war itself will become difficult.

The Ukrainian military is also fully aware of Zaporizhzhia’s strategic importance and is defending it more firmly than other cities. Although Russian forces have taken control of the southern region of Zaporizhzhia province, they have repeatedly failed to capture the central city of Zaporizhzhia itself.

In response, Russian forces changed their strategy by seizing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant located about 50 km from the city and began cutting off power lines connected to the city. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the international community have warned that if the cooling systems fail due to the power cut, the reactor could potentially melt down and cause an explosion. However, the Russian military has disregarded these warnings and is using the safety issues of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as leverage to pressure Ukraine and the West.

Ultimately, Zaporizhzhia has fallen into a dilemma where the weapons it once sold to Russia have now tightened the noose around its own neck. This serves as an important example of how dangerous the situation can become when an allied country entangled in a single supply chain transforms into an adversary.

Measures to defend semiconductor supply chains, which are being actively pursued mainly by the United States and Europe, are also being promoted with lessons learned from the situation in Zaporizhzhia. South Korea, facing a security situation as challenging as Ukraine’s, must proactively respond to the problems that the supply chain defense measures of major powers will cause in the future.