The head of Kyiv's foreign intelligence service has accused China of supplying Russia’s arms industry. OlehIvashchenko said in an interview that Ukraine can “confirm” that Beijing was supplying important minerals and equipment to more than 20 Russian military factories.
This is not the first time Kyiv has levelled such accusations on the Chinese side; earlier, they also said that China was smuggling western equipment snatched by Russian forces during operations against the Ukrainian forces. The claims, however, have been rejected as mere baseless allegations and reiterated that “China is a peace-seeking nation and supports a peaceful end to the War in Ukraine.”
However, the Ukrainian foreign intelligence chief said, “There is information that China supplies tooling machines, special chemical products, gunpowder, and components specifically to defence manufacturing industries." “We have confirmed data on 20 Russian factories.” Although China has sought to project an image of neutrality and denies any involvement in the war, it has increased trade and economic cooperation with Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Meanwhile, Western countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow.
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Ukraine has constantly blamed China for aiding Russia in this war and said Beijing was providing military and economic support to Moscow. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his first public accusation that China is supplying gunpowder and materials to Russia’s arms manufacturers, while also accusing Chinese citizens of helping in the production of drones. China rejected the claim as “groundless,” but Kyiv has since imposed sanctions on three Chinese entities.
“As of early 2025, 80 per cent of critical electronic components found in Russian drones originated in China,” Ivashchenko added. “At the same time, there are facts of product substitutions and deceptive product names; there are shell companies through which everything necessary for the production of microelectronics is supplied.”
Although there has been no official verification of the claims made by the Ukrainian side in this war, it's also important to understand that the war and conflict operate in theatres—the real world where soldiers fight and the virtual space where non-combatants, including political actors, fight by resorting to means of Propaganda.
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