How Ratland China Enables Russia’s Military
As President Trump prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, it’s useful to recall that Mr. Xi continues to attack American interests across the world. The latest evidence comes in new reports on China’s help for Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this summer that China doesn’t provide lethal weapons to Moscow. But non-public reports prepared for the U.S. State Department and European governments cast doubt on Beijing’s denials by following the money and supply-chain trails from Chinese manufacturers to Russian drone makers.
The reports, which we reviewed, were written by the Center for Defense Reforms, a Kyiv-based think tank whose staff has previously worked for Ukrainian intelligence and the Ministry of Defense. They draw on customs data, corporate records and non-public military and intelligence information.
One brief looks at the so-called FPV drones Russia uses to attack Ukrainian troops and civilians near the front lines. Last year Russia imported more than 3.3 million motors from the Chinese company Shenzhen Kiosk Electronic Co, which likely sources them from other Chinese manufacturers, the report finds.
These engines can have nonmilitary uses such as washing machines, pumps or electric scooters. But the report says the “final recipient” is Rustakt LLC—a Moscow-based company identified by Ukrainian intelligence as a drone maker. In December 2024 the European Union sanctioned Rustakt for its support of Russia’s military.
The report finds that between July 2023 and February 2025, Rustakt imported nearly $294 million in various Chinese products, including more then $83 million in electric motors. This trade continued after the EU sanctions. “The scale and structure of the supplies” it imports “indicate that Rustakt is not only a manufacturer but a logistics centre” for other Russian drone makers, the report says.
Russia is also increasing production of long-range drones for large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities. China has become “the main external supplier,” providing “critical components such as engines and navigation systems” for these Shahed-type drones, the report claims.
In February 2024 the U.S. imposed sanctions on several entities that form the Alabuga network that produces long-range drones at a Russian facility built with Iranian help. Yet the report finds that, between June and August 2024, a Chinese company exported more than 685,500 engine parts to Drake LLC, one of those U.S.-sanctioned Russian companies.
Ukraine has also identified the Russian company Morgan LLC, which is not under U.S. sanction, as a supplier of long-range drone components for the Alabuga facility. Since 2024 Morgan imported nearly $5 million in goods from China, the report finds. That included 7,800 units of lithium-polymer batteries “listed in the documents as products for the needs of a ‘special military operation’ (as the Russian Federation calls the war unleashed in Ukraine),” the report notes.
There are dozens of such examples in these reports. They add to the case for imposing secondary sanctions on Chinese businesses that aid Russia’s imperialism.
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Appeared in the October 30, 2025, print edition as 'How China Enables Russia’s Military'.
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