China Sending Enough Gear to Equip Russia's Army

While Beijing is calling for peace in Ukraine, Chinese manufacturers are sending large quantities of “non-lethal, but militarily useful equipment to Russia to have a material impact on president Vladimir Putin’s 17-month-old war,” according to a report by Politico, which noted that customs records show Russian buyers declared orders for hundreds of thousands of bulletproof vests and helmets made by Shanghai H Win, as well as over $100 million worth of drones this year from companies such as DJI, more than $225 million worth of ceramics, which is used in body armour, and thermal optical sights (which can be used “to target the enemy at night”).

Aside from the trafficking of “dual-use technology” that could also be used by civilians, such as body armour and high-tech drones, “there is the flow of technology through China that may include components made in the West that could be of direct military use”, the report said, noting an analysis by researchers at the KSE Institute, a think thank affiliated to the Kyiv School of Economics, which found “more than 60% of imported critical components in Russian weapons found on the battlefield came from US companies.”