The Secret Chinese Link to Russia’s Killer Drone Factory

A Chinese state-owned company supplied Russia with raw materials that could be used to manufacture as many as 1,300 long-range attack drones, according to internal shipping and customs documents obtained by Politico and The Telegraph.

The documents indicate that Jilin Chemical Fiber Group, one of China’s major producers of synthetic and advanced materials, shipped around 46 metric tons of polyacrylonitrile, or PAN precursor, to Alabuga-Volokno, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom. The material is a key feedstock for producing high-strength carbon fiber used in aerospace and military manufacturing.

Alabuga-Volokno operates in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s Tatarstan region and belongs to Rosatom’s advanced materials division, UMATEX. The company’s carbon-fiber production is linked to to Russia’s expanding manufacture of Geran attack drones, which is a Russian version of the Iranian-designed Shahed family of one-way attack drones.

The Chinese shipment is estimated to provide enough material to produce carbon-fiber components for as many as 1,300 Geran-type drones.

The documents also raise questions about possible efforts to obscure the nature of the transaction. The shipment was reportedly declared using a civilian customs classification commonly associated with materials such as nylon and polyester rather than advanced carbon-fiber production. David Albright, president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, said the evidence could provide grounds for Washington to sanction the Chinese supplier.

Alabuga-Volokno and UMATEX have already been targeted by Western sanctions over their links to Russia’s military-industrial sector. The United Kingdom sanctioned UMATEX in 2023, citing its production of carbon-fiber composite materials with potential military applications. Jilin Chemical Fiber Group, however, is not currently under comparable Western sanctions.

The Russian-language documents were collected from Russian sources by the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre and subsequently shared with Western governments. A U.S. official told Politico that the House Select Committee on China had reviewed the files and considered them authentic, while a Ukrainian government official said Kyiv had reached the same conclusion.

Rosatom rejected suggestions that its companies had violated regulations, saying its enterprises operated in accordance with applicable laws. Jilin Chemical Fiber Group did not respond to requests for comment.

The disclosure adds to mounting evidence of Chinese involvement in supply chains supporting Russia’s drone industry. Chinese drone specialists had reportedly worked with sanctioned Russian weapons manufacturer IEMZ Kupol, and Chinese-made attack and surveillance drones had been delivered through Russian intermediaries. Beijing has consistently denied supplying lethal weapons to either side in the Ukraine war and says it maintains strict controls over dual-use exports.

The latest documents appear to establish a direct supply relationship between a Chinese state-owned enterprise and a sanctioned Russian company involved in materials critical to Moscow’s expanding drone-production infrastructure.