Chinese drone exports to Russia use new route via Thailand - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
Chinese drone exports to Russia are being carried out via Thailand. The volume of drone supplies from Thailand to Russia has sharply increased since 2022.
China's drone exports to Russia are using a new route through Thailand, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
Details
As the publication notes, on the 30th floor of the Chartered Square building in downtown Bangkok, there is a modest office of Skyhub Technologies Ltd., "which serves as the hub of a booming and controversial trade." The premises, rented by an office services provider, are rarely visited by the company's sole director and occasionally by Chinese citizens, according to building staff. Online registration documents do not list a contact number. During Bloomberg's visit in late January, no one was available.
"Despite its apparent inactivity, it is a busy channel for advanced drones. Trade documents show that Skyhub Technologies is the second largest importer of unmanned aerial vehicles from China to Thailand. Where they go from there is not recorded, although the bulk of drones imported into the country are re-exported to Russia - a perfectly legal trade," the publication notes.
As the publication notes, "Thailand has largely remained unnoticed as a route to Russia."
However, an analysis of official trade data from Thailand shows that drone exports from Thailand to Russia have surged since 2022, when... Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which accurately reflects the increase in Thailand's imports of these goods from China.
"This trend has been noticed by Ukrainian officials," said a person familiar with the situation.
Beijing claims it is not assisting Russia militarily. However, Chinese-made technology is regularly found on the battlefield in Ukraine, where FPV drones have changed the face of modern warfare.
The US State Department declined to comment on shipments through Thailand. But a spokesman said China is supporting Russia's war effort and supplying about 80% of so-called dual-use parts - a term for equipment with potential military applications - that Russia is using in the war.
"Southeast Asia as a region is definitely one to watch," said Maria Shagina, a senior research fellow for economic sanctions, standards, and strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) based in Berlin. "Countries may change, but methods do not: redirection through third countries using shell companies."
In the 11 months to the end of November 2025, Russia imported $125 million worth of drones from Thailand, accounting for 88% of Thailand's total UAV exports and eight times more than was purchased the previous year. During the same period, China supplied $186 million worth of drones to the Southeast Asian country, accounting for almost all drone exports to Thailand.
In 2022, Thailand exported less than $1 million worth of drones, with none of them going to Russia, government trade data shows.
The export of Chinese drones from Thailand is within the legal framework, said Phanthong Loykulnanta, Director General of the Thai Customs Department, in an interview. He added that a declaration of use is not required when importing drones from China.
"We are ready to act, but a law must be passed first," Phanthong said. He added that the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce is studying the issue.
Russia is under numerous international sanctions due to Russia's war against Ukraine, and although most sanctioned goods - usually dual-use - come through China and Hong Kong, according to EU and US sanctions reports, Moscow is trying to use transshipment routes to circumvent European restrictions.
Southeast Asia became an important channel for goods last year, after Western governments exposed and took action against previous routes through countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan. In October, the European Union imposed sanctions on two Thailand-based firms for their support of the Russian military. The Thai government did not comment on these bans.
The increase in shipments through Thailand shows how difficult it has been for Western authorities to limit Russia's access to both weapons and dual-use technologies, the publication notes.
In 2024, Bloomberg reported that India was being used as a conduit for American-made servers containing Nvidia Corp. chips to Russia, and in October, it was revealed that South African-made drone parts were ending up in Russian unmanned aerial vehicles used to attack Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia is buying missiles from Tehran, as Iranian-designed Shahed 136 drones are being assembled in Russia.
"A war of attrition is a battle for resources," Shagina of IISS said about the war in Ukraine. "Russia is scaling up."
According to registration documents, Skyhub Technologies initially operated in the geological sector and is now registered as a car rental company. According to documents collected by Big Trade Data, a trade intelligence platform specializing in shipping data, it imported $25 million worth of drones in 2025. Skyhub Technologies' imports were from Autel Robotics, one of China's largest drone manufacturers, the data shows.
"Trade documents show that shipments included 976 drones with the same model code as the Autel EVO Max 4T, which costs about $9,000 apiece," according to Autel's website. "Last year, Russian company Aero HIT approached the Ministry of Defense in Moscow to request financial assistance to localize the production of the EVO Max 4T, originally designed for civilian use, but which, it said, proved very effective in combat conditions," according to a copy of a letter obtained by Bloomberg. Autel said in an email that it was not working with Aero HIT at the time and was unaware of the proposal.
In response to inquiries about its relationship with Skyhub Technologies, Autel said it could not discuss customers due to confidentiality, but has "an economic sanctions compliance system that meets international standards." The company said its drones are intended for civilian use and are equipped with a "no-fly geofencing system" that would prevent flights in the conflict zone between Russia and Ukraine, the publication writes.
Skyhub Technologies has not made any public statements regarding drone imports.
"Another company based on the outskirts of Bangkok, China Thai Corp., appears to play an even larger role in the drone trade. According to trade data, it imported $144 million worth of drones into Thailand from China in the first 11 months of 2025. During that time, in October, the company was sanctioned by the United Kingdom for supplying technology to the Russian armed forces," the publication states.
"China Thai's involvement in supplying equipment to Russia dates back to at least 2023, when trade data shows the company acted as a freight forwarder for a $2 million shipment of Apple Inc. iPhones destined for Russian company OOO Atlas, an electronics firm sanctioned by the EU the following year," the publication writes. Also in 2023, Nikkei reported that OOO Atlas bought $2.5 million worth of semiconductors from Hong Kong-based DEXP International Limited, another EU-sanctioned company that was the seller of the iPhone shipment handled by China Thai.
China Thai's annual revenue grew from a symbolic amount of about 14,000 baht ($450) from 2020 to 2022 to 17.8 million baht in 2023, and then to 25.3 million baht in 2024, according to financial reports from Thailand's company registry.
"The firm, located 10 minutes from Bangkok's main international airport on the edge of a cargo warehouse, is now rebranding as Lanto Global Logistics," a sign at the facility indicated during Bloomberg's visit on February 11. An employee, speaking with Bloomberg, said that "executives were aware of the inquiries sent earlier but did not want to comment." She said that "the facility provides logistics for customer orders, adding that employees are aware that the company is under sanctions."