One month into the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the international community has presented a predominantly united front in condemning its aggression by imposing crippling sanctions against various industries within the Russian economy. Some industries, particularly pharmaceuticals and medical devices, have continued operations in Russia at higher rates than many consumer-oriented industries such as retail and hospitality, citing humanitarian needs to provide essential medical supplies.

Some medical device companies such as 3M and Conformis have announced a complete suspension of all distribution and sales operations; most others, including leading companies Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson, have instead opted to denounce the invasion and focus on their philanthropic activities. While implementing sanctions on all medical device exports to Russia is highly unlikely, the Russian medical device sector has already been heavily impacted by other indirect means. For example, the Russian market is acutely susceptible to global supply chain disruptions due to its high reliance on imported medical equipment, which was estimated to exceed 73% as of 2018, according to the US Department of Commerce. In addition, the plummeting buying power of the Russian rouble, combined with reduced healthcare budgets, will undoubtedly lower device procurement rates, resulting in the inability of the country to keep up with domestic surgical demand.

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