Published On 9/7/2026
Although the strategic path towards rapprochement between Russia and China remains stable, and the leaderships of the two countries confirm their commitment to a “comprehensive partnership,” Russian media are criticizing China for selling spare parts to Ukraine and helping it assemble and modernize its drones.
Double ally
Indeed, voices critical of Beijing rose after Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries, which led to a severe fuel crisis in the country, and many Russian newspaper articles confirmed directing “harmful” strikes against Russia.
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Journalists pointed out that China’s assistance to Ukraine would contribute to creating an image among Russian public opinion that Beijing is a hidden ally of Kiev, even though Chinese manufacturers of drones and their components – according to a number of Russian experts – still prefer to cooperate with Russia in the long term.
The issue here is not about politics, ideology, or personal relationships, but rather about strict pragmatism. According to them, China realizes that Russia is a more reliable and profitable partner than Ukraine, which may withdraw from the market at any moment and stop all its purchases.
At the same time, Ross’s book noted that China’s virtual monopoly on cheap military electronics makes both sides of the conflict vulnerable, due to over-reliance on supplies from China, which could stop at any moment.
At the same time, Ross’s book noted that China’s virtual monopoly on cheap military electronics makes both sides of the conflict vulnerable, due to over-reliance on supplies from China, which could stop at any moment.
Will China betray or save Russia?
Under this title, the “Tsargrad” website published a report in which it said that China’s approach is very simple, as nothing is personal, but everything is just business. The website quoted a specialist in Chinese studies, Nikolai Vavilov, as saying that the aggravation of the fuel crisis in the country due to the bombing of Russian oil refineries with Ukrainian drones assembled from Chinese spare parts, indicates that “our partner” is still actively cooperating with Kiev, and not only in the field of drones.
In addition, the expert talks about China lifting restrictions on exports of petroleum products for the remainder of the current month of July, and allowed its own Zhejiang petrochemical refinery to resume supply operations, and it is likely that some fuel will be sent to Russia, at least to Siberia and the Far East.
Vavilov points out that the Ukrainian army caused severe damage to the fuel system in Russia using drones with Chinese components, which led to a severe shortage of gasoline, but now Beijing sells fuel to the Russians, and thus the “friend” benefits from both sides of the conflict, which cannot be considered an expression of “friendship,” as the writer described it.
The goal is to achieve profits
For its part, the “Khibny” website confirmed that Chinese companies manufacturing drones and their components have developed a complex logistical system to achieve profit from both Russian and Ukrainian customers, and they do not take sides in any dispute, but rather focus only on maximizing profits.
The site admits that the behavior of Chinese sales representatives sometimes seems ridiculous. For years, they have been skillfully “trading” with Ukrainian and Russian customers, often selling them the same product.
At the same time, the website pointed out that the Chinese business sector is far from politics, as entrepreneurs maintain their neutrality and focus on how to increase profits.
As for the country’s senior leadership, it allows companies to operate in this particular way, despite officially declaring its support for Russia, according to what the site concluded.
Chinese pragmatism
Russian military expert Dmitry Konanykhin stated that China not only supplies Ukrainian forces with drones, but also supplies them to NATO countries.
The expert confirms – in a comment to SM News – that these supplies contribute to strengthening Ukrainian military capabilities in the conflict, and also strengthen the defense capabilities of NATO countries, which leads to escalation of tensions in the European region.
“Ukrainian forces – according to the expert – receive an almost unlimited supply of kamikaze drones from the West, which buys their components from China,” because China’s tactics are to profit from the sale of highly needed components, while at the same time maintaining Russia’s dominance over them.
In this context, for example, the military expert points to the “Yulka” system, which is an advanced interceptor drone that uses artificial intelligence to identify targets that are not visible to the naked eye, and independently choose the optimal path to target them.
The expert explains that this drone can effectively neutralize different types of drones at a range of up to 3 kilometers, while remaining invisible to electronic warfare systems.
According to the expert, these marches have the ability to bring down their home-made Ukrainian counterparts, and those assembled from high-quality Chinese and American components.
From the same factories
Gazeta newspaper based its approach to the file on statements by Ukrainian officials, in which they said that Ukrainian and Russian companies often buy drone components from the same factories in China.
In an article published by the newspaper by writer Anton Degtyarov, “Chinese officials are strictly adhering to production schedules to ensure that purchasing dates do not overlap between Ukrainian and Russian buyers.”
The writer also points out that Ukraine is “able to produce drones without using any components imported from China,” but it is “unlikely” to do so in the near future, because using Chinese components “is still much cheaper.”
However, given China’s “unfriendly” policy towards Kiev – as the writer says – Ukrainian officials believe that it is important to manufacture drones with the fewest possible number of Chinese components to ensure continued production if supplies from China are interrupted.
