Russia has established a weapons program in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the ongoing war against Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents reviewed by Reuters.
This revelation comes as a significant development in the conflict, suggesting a deeper level of cooperation between Russia and China in the war effort. The program involves IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey, which has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the assistance of local specialists.
A Kupol report to the Russian defense ministry earlier this year outlined the progress of the project. In a subsequent update, Kupol informed the ministry that it was capable of producing drones, including the G3, on a large scale at a Chinese factory, allowing for their deployment in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, the term Moscow uses for the war.
While Kupol, Almaz-Antey, and the Russian defense ministry did not respond to requests for comment, China’s foreign ministry denied knowledge of such a project, stating that the country has strict control measures in place for drone exports.
Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, highlighted the significance of this development, suggesting that it represents a departure from previous Chinese aid to Russia in the conflict. “If you look at what China is known to have delivered so far, it was mostly dual-use goods – it was components, sub-components, that could be used in weapon systems,” he explained. “This is what has been reported so far. But what we haven’t really seen, at least in the open source, are documented transfers of whole weapon systems.”
However, Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), cautioned that Beijing might be hesitant to expose itself to international sanctions for aiding Moscow’s war machine. He emphasized the need for further evidence to confirm China’s direct involvement in the production of Russian military drones.
The US State Department and the Ukrainian government did not respond to requests for comment. Last week, American officials expressed concerns regarding Chinese support for Russia’s war effort, but declined to provide specifics.
According to Kupol’s reports to the ministry, the G3 drone boasts a range of approximately 2,000 km and can carry a payload of 50 kg. Samples of the G3 and other drone models manufactured in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing, involving Chinese experts.
Reuters reviewed two separate documents, which are invoices sent to Kupol in the summer by a Russian firm that acts as an intermediary with Chinese suppliers, according to two European intelligence sources. These invoices confirm the delivery of seven military drones made in China, including two G3s, to Kupol’s headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk.
One invoice requested payment in Chinese yuan, while neither document specified delivery dates or identified the suppliers in China. The intelligence sources emphasized that this is the first concrete evidence they have found of complete UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
These sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, also requested the withholding of specific details related to the documents, including their precise dates.
The intelligence sources presented Reuters with five documents, including two Kupol reports to the ministry from the first half of the year and the two invoices. This evidence supports their claims regarding the existence of a Russian project in China for manufacturing drones for use in Ukraine. This program has not been previously reported.
While Kupol’s reports to the ministry did not provide specific locations for sites related to the project, Reuters was unable to determine whether the defense ministry authorized the company to proceed with the proposed serial production.
Beijing has repeatedly denied any involvement in supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, maintaining its neutrality in the conflict. In response to questions, the foreign ministry told Reuters that China’s position stands in contrast to other nations with “double standards on arms sales,” whom it accused of “adding fuel to the flames of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Earlier this month, the ministry stated that there were no international restrictions on China’s trade with Russia, responding to a Reuters report that Kupol had begun producing the Garpiya-A1 long-range military drone in Russia using Chinese engines and parts.
The new documents indicate that state-owned Kupol has gone further by sourcing complete UAVs from China.
Both Russia and Ukraine are actively working to increase their production of drones, which have proven to be highly effective weapons in the war. David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector and head of the Institute for Science and International Security research group, highlighted the potential for Kupol to circumvent Western sanctions on Russia by establishing a production facility in China, where it could access advanced chips and expertise.
Bendett at CNAS, however, acknowledged that Beijing has reasons to be cautious. “For a factory to exist officially that builds UAVs for the Russians exposes China to some of the more severe effects of the sanctions, so it’s not clear the extent to which China would be willing to expose itself.”
The G3, according to Kupol’s reports sent to the defense ministry, is an upgraded version of the Garpiya-A1 drone. It was redesigned by Chinese experts using blueprints of the Garpiya-A1. Kupol also revealed that within eight months, the project in China would be ready to produce a Chinese-designed REM 1 attack UAV with a payload of 400kg. The European intelligence sources suggested that this system would be comparable to the US Reaper drone.
The sources also identified another Russian defense firm, TSK Vektor, as the intermediary between Kupol and Chinese suppliers in the project. They stated that the Russian firms collaborated with a Chinese company called Redlepus TSK Vector Industrial, based in Shenzhen, without specifying Redlepus’ role.
TSK Vektor and Redlepus did not respond to requests for comment.
Reuters reviewed a separate document that outlined plans involving Kupol, TSK Vektor, and Redlepus to establish a joint Russian-Chinese drone research and production center in the Kashgar special economic zone in China’s Xinjiang province. While Reuters could not determine the document’s origin or intended recipient, it bore the logos of the three companies.
This “Advanced UAV Research and Manufacturing Base,” spanning 80 hectares, would have the capacity to produce 800 drones annually, according to the document. However, no timeline was provided for its operational commencement.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his military had received around 140,000 drones in 2023 and that Moscow aimed to increase this number tenfold this year. “Whoever reacts faster to demands on the battlefield wins,” he stated at a meeting in St Petersburg about drone production.
