I didn't downvote them, but didn't upvote either. "Chinesium" - the supplier it was traced to is Chinese, but the source is unknown beyond that because the documents are falsified. It's also not yet clear if there is a quality issue, the tested parts and materials are turning out ok so far but the lack of provenance makes it difficult to know with any confidence how long the material will last. It could be the right alloy but a low quality production process that will permit much earlier than anticipated failures (potentially critical ones, it's used in both structural and mechanical parts).
That's part of why they're investigating how to replace parts made from it, the quality is unknown since there's no way to verify the certifications passed on through the suppliers since it's already known that the certificates are lies.
For all we know, this is Russian in source but given false documents to get it sold on the open market bypassing some sanctions or getting some oligarch sitting on a supply some extra money.
Good point on the timing. But I didn’t make a claim, I said “for all we know”. We don’t know the real source, but yes drop the sanction example since it does predate current sanctions.
