On Thursday, October 17, Washington announced sanctions against three legal entities and one individual from Russia and China. The individuals on the sanctions list were accused of involvement in the development of China's latest UAV. This was stated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department, UNN reports .
Details
The United States explains that the sanctions were imposed because of involvement in the development and production of Russian long-range Harpy strike drones, which Russia is using in the war against Ukraine.
Designed and developed by specialists from the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Harpy drone is manufactured at factories in China in cooperation with Russian defense companies before being transferred to Russia for use against Ukraine
Under US sanctions are:
- Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned arms production company Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defense Concern JSC, which coordinates the production of Harpy UAVs at plants in China before they are transferred to Russia;
- Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co. based in China produces the L550E engine for the Harpy UAV;
- Redlepus Vector Industry Shenzhen Co Ltd (Redlepus), which also operates in China, cooperates with the Russian defense company TSK Vector LLC and acts as an intermediary between JSC IEMZ Kupol and suppliers from China;
- Artem Mikhailovich Yamshchikov, a Russian citizen, is the CEO and beneficial owner of TSC Vector, which assists in procurement on behalf of JSC IEMZ Kupol and Almaz-Antey in the development and production of attack UAVs.
The US Treasury Department emphasizes that these are the first US sanctions imposed on those Chinese companies that directly develop and produce complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms.
Recall
Earlier, UNN wrote that Russia has started production of a new long-range strike drone “Garpiya-A1” using Chinese engines and components that are already involved in the war in Ukraine.