China secretly sold drones to Russia for over $100M.

According to Politico, China, despite its calls for peace, has actively increased trade in dual-purpose goods with Russia over the past year, helping Moscow, among other things, import sanctioned Western technology.

According to Russian, Chinese, and Ukrainian customs data, this year Russia imported Chinese drones worth more than $100M, which is thirty-five times more than Ukraine. Also, Chinese exports of ceramics to Russia, a component used in body armor, increased by 69% to more than $225M; to Ukraine, it fell by 61% to only $5M.

Imports of Chinese dual-use goods to Russia are often made through shell companies created to disguise trade activities. For example, one of them, Silva, has headquarters in Buryatia and was established in September 2022, ordered 100,000 bulletproof vests and helmets from the Shanghai company, Shanghai H Win.