By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. Senate panel will hold a hearing on Tuesday on the use of U.S. chips in Russian weapons systems, Senator Richard Blumenthal said in a statement on Wednesday.

The hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) will address how export controls intended to block Russia from using U.S. technology in its war in Ukraine are being evaded by Russia, added the office of the Democratic lawmaker, who chairs the panel.

The panel has sought information and documents from four large U.S. producers of semiconductors – Advanced Micro Devices, Analog Devices, Intel, and Texas Instruments, it added.

Preliminary information obtained by the panel showed that since Russia invaded Ukraine almost two years ago, these four companies had “significantly increased” their exports to countries that have been identified as potentially being used by Russia to evade U.S. export controls, it said.

Two of those companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Texas Instruments said it was cooperating with the panel and was opposed to the use of its chips in Russian military equipment, saying it stopped selling products into Russia in February 2022.

Intel also said it suspended all shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus after the start of the conflict, that it abides by export regulations and sanctions, and that its contracts require customers and distributors to comply with the same regulations.

American-manufactured semiconductors have been found in a range of equipment used by the Russian military, Blumenthal’s office said, adding it included drones, radios, missiles, and armored vehicles.

The United States and its allies have imposed multiple sanctions on Moscow and export controls for those supporting Russia’s military and defense industries.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese, Sandra Maler and Daniel Wallis)

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