"Today, all drones come from China": Russia's Finance Minister publicly acknowledges where they get UAVs from
Almost all the imported drones that Russia currently owns were delivered to the aggressor country from China.
Source: This statement was made on 16 October by Anton Siluanov, the Russian Finance Minister.
Details: Speaking at a meeting of the State Duma’s Budget and Taxes Committee, Siluanov revealed information about the source of Russia’s supplies of unmanned aerial vehicles for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Quote: "Today, almost all drones come from the People's Republic of China. We are grateful to our partners. But we need to develop our own resource base, and the necessary money should be allocated," the Russian minister said.
The statement was made in the context of the announcement of Russia's new programme to create its own drone production base.
Quote from Siluanov: "We are allocating additional money for drones. More than 60 billion roubles (over US$616 million) have been accounted for: [this is] the money for a new national project to develop our own drone base. The objective is for 41% of all drones to be labelled ‘Made in Russia’ by 2025."
Reminder:
China has always denied providing military aid to Russia.
In August 2023, China even imposed export restrictions on long-range civilian drones due to Russia's war in Ukraine amid fears that buyers could convert them for military purposes.
Media reports say Chinese leader Xi Jinping has stated that despite friendly ties with Moscow, China maintains neutrality regarding the war in Ukraine.
"He was struck by reports that both sides could use Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks," the Associated Press reported.
However, in July 2023, after analysing customs data, Politico claimed that China had secretly sold drones worth more than US$100 million to Russia.
As the magazine highlighted, China, despite calling for peace, has actively increased trade in dual-use goods with Russia over the past year, helping Moscow, among other things, to import sanctioned Western technology.
The third International Belt and Road Forum will be held in Beijing on 17 October. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be attending, despite the fact that a warrant for his arrest has been issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Read also: Yermak-McFaul group: two-thirds of foreign components in Russian drones are produced in China
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