EU concerned about report that Russia is producing attack drones in China – Euractiv

A report that Russia is developing a Chinese-backed attack drone program for the war in Ukraine is “deeply concerning,” a European Union spokesman said on Friday (September 27).

Reuters reported on Wednesday that IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state defense company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.

It cited two sources from a European intelligence agency and reviewed documents about the program.

Kupol told the Defense Ministry in a later update that it was capable of producing drones, including the G3, on a large scale at a factory in China so that the weapons could be used in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, how Moscow describes the war.

“We have noted the deeply worrying reports that Russia is developing attack drones in China for use in its war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for the EU diplomatic service.

“If these reports are true, it would mean that Chinese companies are providing lethal aid to Russia,” she added.

“It would contradict China’s official narrative that it is not supplying lethal weapons to support Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine, and therefore we expect the allegations to be thoroughly and promptly investigated and addressed by the Chinese authorities.”

The EU has repeatedly called on all countries, including China, not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, materially or otherwise, Massrali said.

China’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters it was not aware of the project, adding that Beijing has strict control measures on the export of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Kupol, Almaz-Antey and the Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday’s article.

Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based defense think tank, said the supply of UAVs from China to Russia, if confirmed, would be a significant development.

“If you look at what China has delivered so far, they have been mainly dual-use items – they have been components, sub-components that could be used in weapons systems,” he told Reuters. “That is what has been reported so far. But what we haven’t really seen, at least in open source, are documented transfers of entire weapon systems.”