It wasn't until the morning of February 24th that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine became apparent. One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's first targets was Odessa, located on the Black Sea coast.

Odessa is one of the largest port cities in Ukraine. And although it is not well known, it is also home to a company called Cryoin Engineering, which plays a major role in the world's semiconductor production.

Cryoin is a company that makes the neon gas that powers lasers that engrave patterns into semiconductors. It supplies to companies in Europe, Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan, but most of it is shipped to the United States. Analysts have warned that supply disruptions from Cryoin could have global repercussions.

Cryoin's business development director Larissa Bondarenko said the company stopped producing neon and other gases on the 24th when the invasion began. "In order to ensure everyone's safety, we have decided [the employees] should stay at home for a few days until the situation is clarified," Bondarenko told WIRED. As of February 28, there was no damage to the facility.

It was supposed to resume production over the weekend, but with missiles hovering over Odessa, it was still too risky. Bondarenko, who lives about 30 minutes by car from the scene, is sleeping in his basement. "Thank goodness we have a basement."

Semiconductors are the brains that control devices inside a variety of products, from mobile phones and laptops to smart homes and even automobiles. The semiconductor industry has already been plagued by shortages as it struggles to keep up with demand for devices driven by the pandemic to begin with.

In fact, semiconductor shortages in 2021 have limited production for nearly every major automaker, and companies such as General Motors have forced entire factories to shut down. Bloomberg reports that in October 2021, Apple, one of the world's largest chip buyers, told its manufacturing partners that it would cut production of 10 million iPhones for 2021 from plans, citing chip shortages.

Now, however, Russia's invasion of Ukraine is stirring anxiety in the industry. They fear that a situation similar to 2014, when the price of neon gas soared 600% following the annexation of Crimea, could recur, exacerbating semiconductor shortages. Indeed, at the end of February, the U.S. and Japanese governments scrambled to prevent a repeat of the 2014 situation, pressuring the semiconductor industry to find alternative sources of neon gas before it's too late.

Ukraine is just one of several chokepoints in the global semiconductor industry. TechCet, a semiconductor industry market research firm that advises some of the world's largest semiconductor makers such as Intel and Samsung, tells WIRED that about half of the world's neon gas comes from Ukraine. .

The Ukrainian neon industry was born to exploit the gases produced as a by-product of Russia's steel production.

“In Russia, steel companies have facilities to recover the gas, and they package it up and sell it as crude gas,” said TechCet President and CEO Rita. Shon-Roy says. "Someone has to refine it and remove other substances. That's where Cryoin comes in."