Although China has reduced its total exports to Russia by over 10% this year, some categories of goods were exempted. According to an investigation conducted by The Washington Post, deliveries of drone components – used by Russia in the war against Ukraine – have increased more than tenfold.
In the first half of 2025, the Russian army was on the verge of regaining the initiative in the drone war, after it began to intensively use, especially after the counteroffensive in the Kursk region, drones connected by fiber optic cables. These extremely thin wires allow drone control without the risk of the signal being blocked by the enemy’s electronic warfare systems.
Such drones are extremely difficult to neutralize and can cause serious damage, explains Samuel Bendett from the Center for a New American Security, in Washington. According to him, Russian drones have managed to disrupt the normal supply routes of the Ukrainian army from the front line and are used to hunt civilians in cities near the front.
These successes would not have been possible without China’s help. According to official data from the Chinese customs, in May and June, record quantities of fiber optic cables were exported to Russia – 190,400 km and 208,000 km respectively. In August, this figure increased almost 10 times, reaching 524,800 km, writes The Washington Post, which analyzed the customs data.
The high cost of these transports, in relation to their weight, indicates that these are military-use cables, Joseph Webster, a senior researcher at the Atlantic Council, who monitors the evolution of Chinese exports, told the publication.