China secretly sells drones, body armour components and thermal imagers to Russia

Over the past year, China has significantly increased its trade in dual-use goods with Russia. In particular, Chinese exports of drones and ceramics used in body armour have increased.

Politico writes about this with reference to customs data.

Russia has imported more than $100 million-worth of drones from China — 30 times more than Ukraine.

Chinese exports of ceramics, a component used in body armor, increased by 69 percent to Russia to more than $225 million, while dropping by 61 percent to Ukraine to a mere $5 million.

Such imports are carried out through specially created companies designed to conceal trade activities.

One such company is Silva, which was registered in the Republic of Buryatia in Russia in September 2022. It ordered 100,000 helmets and bulletproof vests from the Chinese company Shanghai H Win.

Some Chinese companies claim to have allegedly severed ties with Russia. One of them is DJL, which claims that it allegedly prevents its products from being used in hostilities. But Politico journalists found a contract for Inflight to supply DJL drones to Russia through another company in Hong Kong. The contract was concluded in October 2022.