Sari Arho Havrén
I am a little tired of these arguments about how China is not really supporting Russia because there are Chinese components in Ukrainian drones. Let’s unpack this: What Ukraine buys from China is commercial leakage that Beijing actively tries to choke off; what Russia receives is a facilitated strategic flow. China’s September 2024 restrictions on drones and components nominally applied to both sides, but have been enforced asymmetrically: Ukraine faces genuine supply cutoffs while Russia continues receiving critical components. Zelensky put it plainly in May 2025: “Chinese Mavic is open for Russians but is closed for Ukrainians,” adding that there are production lines on Russian territory with Chinese representatives present . So the residual Chinese trade with Ukraine is not evidence of Beijing’s impartiality, but of imperfect enforcement of a policy that runs against Ukraine. Ukraine’s continued dependence is sourced primarily through middlemen, borrowing and smuggling after the 2023 export rules took effect. This the opposite of state-sanctioned supply. Meanwhile transfers to Russia continue through a systematic re-export network spanning the UAE, Hong Kong, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Serbia that Beijing shows absolutely no interest to disrupt.
urstruly_1986
@SariArhoHavren U do know all these Ukrainian drones r filled with made in China components, right?