The Russia-Ukraine War has seen drones become extremely important weapons on the battlefield.... for both sides. A new report has now thrown light on how Beijing is helping Moscow sustain its large-scale aerial warfare...
Meanwhile, Russia has expressed willingness for restarting Ukraine talks after US President Donald Trump's envoys visited Kyiv and Moscow in a new push for peace talks.
In the latest from the battlefield, Ukraine reported a Russian drone strike at a shopping mall in Zaporizhia.
Visuals showed firefighters trying to extinguish a large blaze in the aftermath of the attack, which did not result in any casualties.
On the other hand, Russia claimed that one person was killed whereas four others were injured in an Ukrainian drone attack on a residential building in the country's Perm region.
According to a joint investigation by the Telegraph and Politico, a Chinese state-owned firm named Jilin Chemical Fibre Group supplied at least 46 tonnes of carbon-fibre chemical to a Russian firm this year.
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This firm, which is a subsidiary of a Russian state-owned company, used it to produce military-grade carbon fibre which is used for the mass production of Kamikaze drones.
These explosive-laden drones are designed to destroy a specific target in a single, self-sacrificial strike.
This report also claimed that the shipments were disguised as synthetic chemical fibres to avert sanctions.
At present, the Chinese firm in question is not facing any Western sanctions.
Experts caution that the material sent by China might be enough for Russia to build at least thirteen hundred Kamikaze drones.
According to the report, both the US House Select Committee on China and the Ukrainian government have reviewed the documents and determined they are legitimate.
This is crucial, as the US had stated last year that it can impose sanctions to disrupt networks through which Russia procures technology and equipment from abroad to support its war effort.
It is worth noting that US sanctioned two Chinese companies in October 2024 for their involvement in making Russia's long-range Garpiya drone.
As of March this year, Ukraine claimed that Russia has fired over 57,000 Shahed-type drones on its territory.
After the country innovated by producing indigenous interceptor drones designed to shoot down these drones, Russia then turned to jet power.
According to the Ukrainian air force spokesperson, Russian forces fired over twenty-eight hundred jet-powered drones in August itself.
After initially using Iran's Shahed drones, Russia began mass-producing its own versions called Gerans.
Now, its most advanced version- Geran-5 is creating quite a flutter in Ukraine.
It flies more like a low-cost cruise missile.
According to the country's ministry of defence, its speed can touch 600 kilometres per hour, and it can strike targets close to 950 kilometres away, which is much more than its previous variants.
Thus, Ukraine's existing air defence measures are relatively ineffective in intercepting this drone.
While Ukrainian officials say four companies have developed interceptors to shoot down jet-powered drones, they are still in the testing phase.
Earlier in August, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed a general to head the country's unmanned systems forces, which is its newly established military branch responsible for drone warfare.
Now, the report comes just a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Putin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek.
While Xi stated that the prospects of China-Russia ties will be even more brighter, Putin hailed the comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between the two countries.
Although China has denied providing lethal weapons to any party in the Russia-Ukraine War, the report raises uncomfortable questions for the West, with Xi set to meet Trump in Washington later this month...
Although China may not have troops fighting alongside Russia, its technology and supply chain can still help power Putin's war machine....