China sells drone engines to Russia under guise of refrigerators

Published: 27 Jul / 2025 13:22

Chinese engines for combat drones are being shipped to Russia in circumvention of sanctions under the guise of “industrial refrigeration units”.

According to a Ukrinform correspondent, Reuters reports this regarding its own sources in European security agencies, as well as customs documents.

“Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped via front companies to a state-owned drone manufacturer in Russia, labelled as ‘industrial refrigeration units’ to avoid detection in the wake of Western sanctions,” the article says.

It is noted that these engines have allowed the Russian weapons-maker IEMZ Kupol to increase production of Garpiya-A1 attack drone combat drones, despite U.S. and EU sanctions aimed at disrupting the supply chains of the Russian defense industry.

Reuters notes that Kupol has signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense to produce more than 6,000 Garpiya attack drones this year, three times more than last year. “ The document stated that more than 1,500 drones had already been delivered by April,” the agency said.

It should be noted that Russia is actively using these drones to strike Ukrainian territory. “Describing them as cooling units allowed the goods to be exported to Russia without alerting Chinese authorities,” one of Reuters’ interlocutors said.

However, according to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia uses about 500 such drones every month, most of which are made in China.

At the same time, Beijing has officially denied the improper supply of dual-use goods to Russia.

As reported by Ukrinform, China, including Hong Kong, is responsible for 80% of the circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions.