How China is secretly fuelling Russia’s drone war against Ukraine

As Russia’s drone offensive against Ukraine escalates, mounting evidence suggests that China plays a far more instrumental role in supporting Moscow’s unmanned aerial capabilities than previously acknowledged.

While Beijing insists it has maintained a neutral stance in the conflict, internal documents, official statements, and Ukrainian intelligence paint a very different picture — one of systematic supply chains, covert joint ventures, and dual-use technologies empowering the Kremlin’s expanding drone arsenal.

Russian drone production gets Chinese help

A once-obscure Russian firm named Aero-HIT, headquartered in Khabarovsk, near the Chinese border, has become a central actor in Russia’s drone manufacturing ecosystem, reported Bloomberg.

Over the past three years, this company has rapidly scaled up operations, providing large quantities of drones used in combat zones — particularly in occupied Ukrainian territories like Kherson, where its systems have allegedly been employed in operations targeting both Ukrainian forces and civilians.

Internal memos and correspondence dating from late 2022 to mid-2025, accessed by Bloomberg, reveal how Aero-HIT has relied heavily on Chinese parts, technological expertise, and manufacturing know-how to expand its capacity.

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Its production line now delivers several thousand drones monthly, including its main platform — the Veles FPV drone — designed for frontline use and praised for its effectiveness in electronic warfare environments.

Despite being sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2023, Aero-HIT continued sourcing components from Chinese entities, some of which have also been blacklisted. These include Shenzhen Huasheng Industry and intermediaries such as Renovatsio-Invest, both of which have assisted in circumventing export restrictions.

Russia has employed deceptive strategies to conceal these transactions, routing them through sectors unrelated to defense, such as airline catering, agriculture, and seafood exports.

One case involved Aeromar-DV, a catering contractor for Aeroflot, which submitted an order for 100 Veles drones on behalf of a military unit in Pskov.

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Russian corporate filings link Aero-HIT to Komax, a company led by Konstantin Basyuk — a former intelligence operative and senator from Kherson, sanctioned by the European Union in 2023 for his role in the region’s occupation policy.

A technology bridge between Russia & China

A significant component of Russia’s drone-industrial resurgence lies in its collaboration with Chinese academic and commercial institutions.

Talks of building a joint drone manufacturing facility date back to 2022, involving Komax, the Harbin Comprehensive Bonded Zone, and the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) — a prestigious engineering school placed under US sanctions for its work in defense technologies.

In May 2023, a Russian delegation toured drone firms and research institutions in China, including HIT. Following this, the project received formal backing from Yury Trutnev, the Russian presidential envoy to the Far East, who facilitated customs benefits for importing Chinese components duty-free, reported Bloomberg.

Although some early Chinese partners withdrew from the arrangement in mid-2023 due to tighter export controls, other suppliers stepped in, allowing Russia to continue production. By late 2023, monthly output reached around 300 drones and continued to grow steadily.

Meanwhile, documents reveal Aero-HIT had been in talks with engineers from Autel Robotics, a Chinese drone manufacturer, since early 2023 to domestically produce the Autel EVO Max 4T, a civilian drone model adapted for military use due to its resistance to jamming systems.

Autel denies any formal relationship with Aero-HIT and claims it stopped its Russian operations in early 2022. Nonetheless, the documents show cooperation extended well into 2025, with production goals of 30,000 units annually.

Aero-HIT also received backing at a Kremlin-endorsed small business forum held during Russia’s presidential campaign in early 2024. While the presentation showcased domestic drone production, Chinese involvement was notably omitted from public discussion.

Ukraine’s drone leadership under pressure

At the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine surged ahead in drone technology, rapidly establishing itself as a leader in unmanned systems on the battlefield.

In 2024 alone, the country manufactured close to 1 million tactical drones, with plans to increase output to 2.5 million in 2025, alongside 30,000 long-range strike drones.

Drones have become the backbone of Ukraine’s defence operations.

According to Pavlo Palisa, former top commander and current deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, “80 percent of the damage to Russia’s equipment and personnel has been done with drones.” In May 2025, Ukrainian drones reportedly destroyed 89,000 Russian targets.

But Russia is catching up fast.

According to Zelenskyy, Russian drone production has reached 300 units per day and may soon hit 500, outpacing Ukraine’s daily output of 100 long-range drones.

That expansion is made possible not just by Russia’s deeper financial reserves but also its access to Chinese electronics, optical systems, engines, and navigation modules.

“Chinese manufacturers provide them with hardware, electronics, navigation, optical and telemetry systems, engines, microcircuits, processor modules, antenna field systems, control boards, navigation. They use so-called shell companies, change names, do everything to avoid being subject to export control and avoid sanctions for their activities,” Oleh Aleksandrov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service told Politico.

“Yet officially, China sticks to all the rules. Yet only officially.”

Technological arms race between Ukraine & Russia

The conflict is evolving into a high-tech war of attrition, where drones — rather than artillery shells — are the primary instruments of destruction. As Zelenskyy put it, “They are so cheap and effective, they are used daily as artillery shells.”

Russia has begun deploying drones that are guided by fiber optic cables rather than radio waves, rendering them largely immune to electronic countermeasures and much harder to detect.

These drones have played a key role in pushing Ukrainian forces out of captured territory in regions like Kursk, while systematically degrading Ukraine’s supply lines.

Ukrainian troops have found it increasingly difficult to spot Russian drones in time, especially those operated via wired systems.

Meanwhile, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, warned: “The enemy is copying the experience of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and is actively scaling its unmanned units. Therefore, we must maintain the pace of development and constantly increase our capabilities to be one step ahead.”

In response, Ukraine is ramping up production of interceptor drones and expanding the use of new technologies such as AI-assisted targeting. These innovations are part of an urgent effort to neutralise the growing threat of Russian aerial systems.

How Russia is dependent on China

Ukrainian officials estimate that 80 percent of the electronic components in Russian drones originate from China, along with critical inputs for missiles and even gunpowder used in Russian military factories.

According to US Senator Lindsey Graham, “Without China’s support, Putin’s war machine comes to a halt.” His statement reflects growing concern in Western capitals that China is testing both export loopholes and battlefield technologies in Ukraine — while staying officially nonaligned.

Facilities such as the Kupol plant in Izhevsk, the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, and other hubs in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Ekaterinburg now form the backbone of its UAV production infrastructure.

While Ukraine explores unconventional tactics, including covert strikes on Russian airfields using smuggled drones, Kyiv’s ability to maintain its technological edge now hinges on greater investment and support from international partners.

“We are spending a lot of money. We are spending more today than we planned. Because everyone is developing. Russians are developing, and our new technologies are emerging. But we have a positive way out of the race if we find more financing,” Zelenskyy said, calling for a renewed global push to bolster Ukraine’s drone warfare capabilities.

With inputs from agencies