© depositphotos/Fredex Russia is increasing the production of deadly drones.
Russia is terrorizing Ukraine with drones day and night. There is no indication that these attacks will abate. Ukrainian intelligence officials say that by the end of this year, Russia plans to produce two million FPV drones, 30,000 long-range drones, and 30,000 decoy drones.
The Telegraph has found that Chinese companies directly supplied parts and materials worth at least $63 million to Russian firms that were under sanctions for drone production between 2023 and 2024, as Moscow built a large-scale logistics infrastructure for its domestic drone production program.
Almost a quarter of the value of these supplies — $14.3 million — was sent to Russian firms under sanctions related to the production of Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones operating in the Alabuga special economic zone in the city of Yelabuga.
On the other side is Iran, which allows direct transportation of materials.
Here, advanced Russian adapted systems of domestic production – the Harpy attack complex and Gerber drones – come off the assembly lines, relying on Iranian drawings and stable supplies of Chinese components.
For example, the Russian Harpy drone is equipped with Chinese engines from the Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine company.
In total, The Telegraph identified 97 Chinese suppliers.
Beijing supports Moscow without directly intervening in the war, allowing Chinese companies to export dual-use goods — commercial and military — which led to a record bilateral trade volume of $282 billion in 2024.
Chinese companies, including Changzhou Utek Composite, Taishan Fiberglass, Jilin Hongsheng Trading, Yongji Rongdu Commercial and Trading, and Hebei Jigao, supplied a variety of fiberglass and carbon fiber products, such as filaments, binders, processing components, and fiberglass powder, which were sent directly to Russian companies operating in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone and engaged in the production of UAVs.
Harbin Bin-Au Technology, Jinhua Hairun Power Technology, and Shandong Xinyilu International Trade also supplied aircraft engines and components worth at least $1.156 million to Drake LLC, which operates in Yelabuga.
In just three months of 2023, the Chinese company Ningbo Peak Cloud Import and Export shipped $4 million worth of aircraft and aircraft engines to the Russian civil aviation plant Ural, which is subject to sanctions for the production of combat UAVs.
China stopped selling drones to Ukraine, but not to Russia – Zelensky
Five Russian companies have been identified that are subject to global sanctions and are responsible for importing components from China, as well as directly supplying a significant portion of the Chinese parts used in the production of drones.
These Russian companies — Ural Civil Aviation, Akmetron, PT Elektronik, PT Elektronik, and Radioline — purchased a number of components from Chinese suppliers such as Asia Link Shanghai International Logistics, which shipped everything from metal products to electronic chips.
Mile Hao Xiang Technology, which produces engines for Gerbera drones, exported more than $1.75 million worth of products to Russia in 2022–2023, both directly and through intermediaries. The main Russian importers were Sequoia JSC and Unikom LLC.
Over the past three years, one Russian firm — Alabuga-Fiber LLC — has imported 3,000 tons of carbon fiber from China worth $24.7 million, produced by companies such as Jilin Hongsheng Trading, Jilin Tangu Carbon Fiber Co, and Jilin Chemical Fiber Friend Textile.
The Russian company Morgan LLC imported goods worth almost $5.8 million from China for a drone factory in the Alabuga SEZ.
Suzhou ECOD, which is sanctioned by Ukraine, has shipped products worth $1.6 million since it began deliveries to Russia in August 2024.
Morgan also imported nearly $1.156 million worth of lithium batteries, which the documents listed as goods needed for a “special military operation.”
China likely supplies much more to Russia than the trade records reviewed by journalists reflect, so the monetary estimates should be viewed as a lower, not an upper, limit, as neither country reports supplies consistently or fully.
Drones allow Russia to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses, especially given the increased use of decoy drones, and to more reliably attack critical infrastructure. It also allows the Russian military to escalate psychological warfare, creating an environment of constant stress for Ukrainians.
In early July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi privately told European officials that China simply could not afford to see Russia lose the war, as it risked giving the US the opportunity to focus all its attention on it.