Chinese companies are sending 1,000 assault rifles and drone parts to Russia

Chinese companies sent to Russia 1,000 assault rifles, body armor and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including components for drones, I’m writing Politico regarding customs data.

Deliveries took place from June to December 2022. Some shipments reached Russia via Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

One of the supplier companies, China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, has close ties to the Chinese government, being one of the government’s largest defense contractors. In June, CQ-A rifles modeled on the M16 were sent to Tekhkrim, a company cooperating with the Russian Ministry of Defense. At the same time, the weapon was marked as “civilian hunting rifles”, although the Chinese also use them the police and armed forces of the Philippines, South Sudan and Paraguay.

Another company is Da-Jiang Innovations Science & Technology Co. (DJI) – in November and December sent to a small Russian distributor batteries and cameras for drones by UAE. A total of 12 lots of spare parts were delivered.

The publication notes that it is not yet clear whether Russia used Chinese rifles in the war in Ukraine DJI drones have already been seen on the battlefield. Lately the drones of this company stopped selling to Russian Aliexpress customers.

also in In December last year, Moscow managed to import 80 tons of bulletproof vests $ 10 million Most of them were produced by the Turkish company Ariteks, but 12 tons were produced by the Chinese company Xinxing Guangzhou Import & Export Co – they were also received by Turkey.

In addition, customs data shows that the Russian state-owned company Rosoboronexport has been buying microchips, thermal imaging cameras, gas turbine engines from various countries, including China, Serbia and Myanmar, since 2022.

By supplying dual-use equipment, China could covertly help Russia in the war while avoiding sanctions and other measures threatened by US and European officials, writes Politico.

On March 16, it was reported that the Ukrainian military shot down a Chinese Mugin-5 drone, modified for military operations in the Donetsk region. Mugin Limited confirmed it was their drone and called the incident “extremely unfortunate”, noting that they were doing “everything possible to stop it”.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused China of intending to supply arms to Russia and warned Beijing of “serious consequences”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the words speculation.

The fact that China is considering sending artillery systems, ammunition and attack drones to Russia, despite public calls for peace talks and a ceasefire in Ukraine, the Washington Post wrote, citing US administration officials.

In turn, the German publication Der Spiegel reported that Russia is in negotiations with the Chinese company Xi’an Bingo Intelligent Aviation Technology for the purchase of 100 ZT-180 attack drones, the first batch of which could be delivered by April.