Russia has secretly established a development and production program in China for attack drones to be used in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported on Sept. 25 citing European intelligence sources and documents reviewed by the outlet.
According to the report, Russia has flight-tested a new drone called the Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.
Details of the project were revealed in a report by the company behind the project, IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Kremlin-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey.
China has positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war but has simultaneously deepened economic ties with Moscow and backed the country against Western sanctions.
Beijing has also emerged as one of Russia's leading sources of dual-use goods that feed the Russian defense industry.
In a comment to Reuters, China's foreign ministry denied knowledge of the G3 project.
In an interview with ABC News aired on Sept. 24., President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is using Chinese satellites to take pictures of Ukraine's nuclear facilities for possible future attacks.
"The recent information is that Russia has been using Chinese satellites and taking photos of the details of the objects on nuclear facilities," the president said.
"And in our experience, if Russia takes photos of certain objects, then there is a threat of strikes against the nuclear objects."
He did not elaborate on whether Chinese satellites were commercial or controlled by the Chinese government.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
