EU concerned by report of Russia producing attack drones in China

A report that Russia is developing a China-backed attack drone programme for the war in Ukraine is “deeply concerning”, a European Union spokesperson said on Friday (27 September).

Reuters reported on Wednesday that IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.

It cited two sources from a European intelligence agency and reviewed documents about the programme.

Kupol told the defence ministry in a subsequent update that it was able to produce drones including the G3 at scale at a factory in China so the weapons could be deployed in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, the term Moscow uses for the war.

“We have noted the deeply concerning reports alleging that Russia is developing attack drones in China for the use in its war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Nabila Massrali, a spokesperson for the EU’s diplomatic service.

“If these reports are accurate, this would mean that Chinese companies are providing Russia with lethal assistance,” she added.

“It would go against China’s official narrative that it does not provide lethal weapons to support Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine and therefore we expect the allegations to be thoroughly and immediately examined and addressed by the Chinese authorities.”

The EU has repeatedly urged all countries, including China, not to provide material or other support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, Massrali said.

China’s foreign ministry has told Reuters it was not aware of the project, adding that Beijing had strict control measures on the export of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Kupol, Almaz-Antey and the Russian defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment for Wednesday’s article.

Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based defence think-tank, said the delivery of UAVs from China to Russia, if confirmed, would be a significant development.

“If you look at what China is known to have delivered so far, it was mostly dual-use goods – it was components, sub-components, that could be used in weapon systems,” he told Reuters. “This is what has been reported so far. But what we haven’t really seen, at least in the open source, are documented transfers of whole weapon systems.”