China secretly delivered 46 tons of raw materials to Russia for drone production — Media

China secretly sent 46 tons of raw materials to Russia for drone production — Media

China's state-owned Jilin Chemical Fiber Group has secretly sent 46 tons of chemical raw materials used in the production of drones to Russia. The cargo was declared as civilian products for peaceful purposes. Politico and The Telegraph reported this, citing relevant documents.

According to the documents, polyacrylonitrile, a substance necessary for the production of carbon fiber, was received by the Russian company Alabuga-Fiber. This company is part of "Rosatom". In the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, unmanned aerial vehicles based on Iranian Shahed drones have been assembled since 2023.

Documents dating to 2026 note that this cargo was registered under the code of synthetic fibers used by civilians. David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, said carbon fiber is used to reinforce internal parts of drones, such as wings, engines, and fuel tanks. According to his calculations, 46 tons of polyacrylonitrile is enough to produce at least 1,300 drones.

Chinese spare parts have been detected multiple times before in drones used by Russia against Ukraine. However, these documents are the first evidence confirming the direct supply of such raw materials from China.

The documents regarding the shipment of chemicals from China were obtained by the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center. The authenticity of the documents was confirmed by the Ukrainian government and the US House Select Committee on China. This information was also handed over to the UK government.

The US State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment on the matter. The UK Foreign Office did not deny the information in the documents.

On September 24, Donald Trump plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. According to journalists, against the backdrop of this new evidence, Ukraine may increase pressure on the US president. The goal is to force Beijing to stop supplying such products to Russia.