The government has cracked down on sanctions loopholes after a Times investigation revealed British components were still being used to power Russia’s devastating suicide drone attacks on Ukraine.

The Foreign Office announced measures to disrupt Russia’s supply chains, described as being “reliant on … third country suppliers providing key components and technical support”.

An investigation by The Times, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and other partners revealed that British and European components were still being discovered in Russian military equipment years after bans were introduced.

This included the mass-produced Geran 2 drones, a Russian variant of the Iranian Shahed 136 used extensively to target Ukraine’s infrastructure and military equipment, and refurbished T-72 tanks. Short-range drones were responsible for killing 577 civilians and wounding 3,288 last year, according to the United Nations. Russia fired the equivalent of more than 200 drones a day into Ukraine in March, the highest ever monthly total.

UK companies will now be required to secure end-user certification when they export to countries that the government has warned them could send their goods on to Russia.

Nigel Kushner, chief executive of W Legal Limited, said the measures showed the UK was taking the lead in sending an appropriate message to those in Russia’s supply chain. It was a “good and smart move in the right direction” that will increase the “cost and challenge for nefarious actors”.

Stephen Doughty, the sanctions minister, said the measures “expose and disrupt the operations of those trafficking migrants as cannon fodder and feeding Putin’s drone factories with illicit components to target innocent civilians and vital infrastructure”.