Chinese drone experts flew to Russia to conduct technical development of military drones at a state-owned arms manufacturer under Western sanctions, Reuters reports, citing two European security sources and documents seen, writes UNN.
Details
"Since the second quarter of last year, Chinese experts have visited the IEMZ Kupol arms factory more than half a dozen times," the publication writes. According to documents and information from two officials, during this time, Kupol also received batches of Chinese-made attack and reconnaissance drones through a Russian intermediary.
Last September, Reuters reported that Kupol had developed a new Garpiya-3 drone in China with the help of local specialists. Now the agency has published detailed information about "the extensive involvement of Chinese experts in the testing and technological development of military drones in Russia."
Officials said the cooperation indicates deepening ties between Kupol and Chinese companies in the development of drones, which have proven critical to Russia's war in Ukraine.
China's Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of the cooperation.
"China has always maintained an objective and fair position on the issue of the Ukrainian crisis (as Beijing calls the war - ed.), never supplying lethal weapons to either side of the conflict and strictly controlling dual-use goods, including drone exports," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the publication, documents, including invoices and bank statements, show that "last year, Kupol received more than a dozen one-way attack drones manufactured by Chinese drone manufacturer Sichuan AEE."
"The drones were supplied by the Russian defense procurement company TSK Vektor, which is under US and EU sanctions," according to officials and documents.
US and European governments have repeatedly expressed concern about Chinese companies supplying weapons to Russian manufacturers and have sanctioned some of them.
In July, Reuters reported that Kupol produces thousands of Garpiya attack drones using Chinese components, including engines. "Garpiya" are modeled after the Iranian "Shahed" drone, the publication writes.
Two European officials said that "the supply of a small number of Chinese attack drones and the presence of Chinese specialists may indicate Kupol's interest in expanding the production of new drone models."
Reuters could not independently confirm the reason for the drone supply and the exact nature of the work being carried out by Chinese specialists.
A letter from TSK Vektor to Kupol, seen by Reuters, showed that "in the second quarter of 2024, the procurement company invoiced the arms manufacturer for more than half a dozen drones manufactured by AEE."
A corporate document from AEE detailing shipments to TSK Vektor, seen by Reuters, "confirmed the delivery of A140 and A900 attack drones." It also "listed more than half a dozen other drones - A60, A100, and A200 - to be delivered."
Kupol reports, seen by Reuters, "describe flight tests of A60, A100, and A200 drones at the Chebarkul military training ground in Russia's Chelyabinsk region in the last quarter of 2024."
"A group of Chinese experts visited Kupol's facilities in Izhevsk to assemble drones and train Kupol personnel to use them," a Kupol document states. Then "the experts visited Chebarkul," the report adds. Airline bookings, seen by Reuters, indicated that the Chinese experts were scheduled to fly out of Chelyabinsk the day after the tests.
In the letter and flight reports, the Chinese experts were described as employees of TSK Vektor, a Russian procurement company. However, European officials said they believed these individuals were AEE employees, the publication writes.
They cited AEE's response to feedback on A200 drone test flights, reviewed by Reuters, which claimed to be based on information from AEE technicians.
Subsequently, "AEE invoiced TSK Vektor for more than 5 million yuan (US$700,000) for several A200s equipped with anti-jamming equipment, as well as other goods in the second quarter of 2025," according to an invoice and account statement reviewed by Reuters.
"Another example of the connection between Kupol and a Chinese drone manufacturer: a flight test report approved by the Russian arms manufacturer and TSK Vektor evaluated the performance of the HW52V drone, manufactured by the Chinese company Hunan Haotianyi, in the third quarter of last year," the publication states.
According to European security officials, the HW52V is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone that can be used for military purposes for reconnaissance, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as an attack drone.
Airline tickets, seen by Reuters, showed that "Liu Mingxing, CEO of Hunan Haotianyi, and Artem Vysotsky, head of TSK Vektor's drone department, flew from Irkutsk airport in Siberia in adjacent seats in June after the last day of an event featuring the company's drones."
A separate Kupol document from the third quarter of last year "described visits to its facilities by Chinese citizens, including engineers and technical personnel, who were described as employees of TSK Vektor."
European security officials said they believed "the Chinese citizens were employees of Hunan Haotianyi, as several experts who visited Kupol then – and during other trips in 2024 and 2025 – accompanied the CEO of Hunan Haotianyi during his visit to Russia."
The document states that the purpose of the experts' visit in the third quarter was to adapt a new Chinese flight control computer and a new engine for the Garpiya.
"Several other letters between Vektor and Kupol describe more than half a dozen weekly visits by Chinese and Russian experts in 2024 and 2025. The letters state that these groups will work on the flight control computer," the publication says.
The latest letter, describing a visit by Chinese experts from the same group in the third quarter of 2025, noted that "they will also work on a new drone called GA-21." European officials assess the GA-21 as a version of the Iranian Shahed-107, which can be used for surveillance or as an attack drone.