Chinese drone specialists have repeatedly traveled to Russia to provide technical support for military drone development at IEMZ Kupol, a state-owned arms manufacturer under Western sanctions, according to European security officials and documents reviewed by Reuters.
Since mid-2023, Chinese experts have visited Kupol’s facilities in Izhevsk on more than half a dozen occasions. During this period, Kupol also received deliveries of Chinese-made attack and surveillance drones through a Russian intermediary, the documents show. In September 2023, Reuters reported that Kupol had unveiled the Garpiya-3 drone, developed with Chinese assistance. The latest findings provide the first detailed evidence of sustained Chinese involvement in testing and refining drone technologies inside Russia.
Officials, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the collaboration points to a deepening relationship between Kupol and Chinese firms in drone development—a capability that has become central to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
China’s foreign ministry, in response, said it was unaware of such cooperation. “China has always maintained an objective and fair position on the Ukraine crisis, never providing lethal weapons to any party in the conflict and strictly controlling dual-use exports, including drones,” the ministry said in a statement. The Kremlin, Russia’s defence ministry, and Kupol did not respond to requests for comment.
Deliveries of Chinese Drones
Documents reviewed by Reuters—including invoices and bank statements—show Kupol acquired more than a dozen one-way attack drones from Sichuan AEE, a Chinese drone maker. The shipments were facilitated by Russian procurement firm TSK Vektor, which is under U.S. and EU sanctions. Neither TSK Vektor nor Sichuan AEE responded to requests for comment.
European governments have long expressed concern about Chinese firms supplying components or systems to Russian defense contractors. In July, Reuters reported that Kupol was producing thousands of Garpiya drones with Chinese parts, including engines. The Garpiya, modeled on Iran’s Shahed drone, has been widely deployed in Ukraine—Kyiv says around 500 are used each month.
Kupol documents describe flight tests of AEE’s A60, A100, and A200 drones at Russia’s Chebarkul test site in late 2024, with Chinese specialists on-site to assemble the drones and train Kupol personnel. Travel records confirm the experts departed from Chelyabinsk shortly after the tests.
Although internal letters described the experts as employees of TSK Vektor, European officials assessed they were in fact AEE staff, citing technical feedback attributed directly to AEE engineers. Invoices show that by mid-2025, AEE billed TSK Vektor more than 5 million yuan (about $700,000) for several A200 drones equipped with anti-jamming technology.
A Second Chinese Supplier
Kupol also collaborated with another Chinese manufacturer, Hunan Haotianyi, whose HW52V drone—a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) platform capable of surveillance and strike missions—was tested in Russia in 2023.
Flight records show Liu Mingxing, CEO of Hunan Haotianyi, traveled alongside TSK Vektor’s drone division chief Artem Vysotsky from Irkutsk in June 2023, following a drone exhibition. Further Kupol documents record visits by Chinese technical staff described as Vektor employees, though European officials assessed they were in fact Hunan Haotianyi personnel.
These experts worked on integrating a new Chinese flight control computer and engine into Kupol’s Garpiya drone. Subsequent letters detail at least half a dozen joint visits by Chinese and Russian teams through 2024 and 2025, focusing on flight control systems. A more recent document refers to work on a new platform, the GA-21, believed to be a variant of Iran’s Shahed-107 drone, designed for both reconnaissance and attack roles.
Strategic Implications
Samuel Bendett, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said China has become indispensable to Russia’s military-industrial base. “There is an enormous role and influence of Chinese components in Russian military systems—especially in aerial drones,” he said.
The revelations underline how Russian defense manufacturers are turning increasingly to Chinese firms to sustain and expand drone production, even as Western sanctions tighten.
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