China Providing Satellite Intelligence to Russia Prolongs Ukraine War

Chinese soldiers arrive to participate in war games drills in Grodekovo, Russia, in a still image from video released on Aug. 29, 2022. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Commentary

The Chinese regime’s security services have been providing military intelligence to Russia, enabling air and drone strikes that are killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure ahead of the coming winter.

In early October, Ukraine’s air force warned of renewed Russian missile and drone attacks across the country. Strikes hit cities such as Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy, killing and injuring civilians and damaging critical infrastructure. Ukrainian officials said the attacks were part of a campaign to isolate communities before winter. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned them as terrorism targeting civilians. Experts believe that many of these strikes were enabled by satellite intelligence provided by China to Russia.

Ukrainian intelligence has accused China of actively aiding Russia’s war effort by supplying satellite data used to guide missile strikes. Oleh Aleksandrov of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Agency reported a high level of cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in reconnaissance, allowing Russia to identify and target strategic sites, including those tied to foreign investments.

This intelligence sharing is believed to have enabled attacks such as the August strike on a U.S.-owned factory in Zakarpattia that injured 15 people. Ukrainian authorities also reported that during missile strikes on Oct. 5, at least three Chinese reconnaissance satellites were observed over western Ukraine.

A growing body of intelligence and investigative reports indicates that China has become one of Russia’s most important enablers in the war against Ukraine. A U.S. intelligence assessment compiled under the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 concluded that Beijing has pursued a range of economic and technological measures to offset the impact of Western sanctions, providing Moscow with vital lifelines since the February 2022 invasion.

China has expanded its imports of Russian energy and other goods rerouted from Europe while promoting the yuan for bilateral trade, allowing Moscow to move money outside Western oversight. A U.S. intelligence report concluded that Beijing has become a central pillar of Russia’s wartime economy, supplying dual-use technology and key components despite sanctions. These findings mirror earlier U.S. warnings.

In April 2024, Washington accused Beijing of providing geospatial intelligence to Moscow, and then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China’s support for Russia’s defense industry was prolonging the war. Zelenskyy accused China of sending weapons and gunpowder, and producing arms inside Russia. Senior Biden administration officials detailed that Chinese assistance included machine tools, drone and turbojet engines, missile technology, microelectronics, and nitrocellulose for propellant.

By 2023, roughly 90 percent of Russia’s microelectronics imports came from China, and by early 2025, Chinese-made electronics made up about 80 percent of those used in Russian drones. Investigations by Western and Ukrainian sources identified more than two dozen Chinese companies, some state-owned, supplying Russia with critical minerals such as gallium, germanium, and antimony—materials vital for drone and missile production that have evaded Western sanctions.

By September 2024, Russia had also established a weapons program in China to produce attack drones through the state-owned company Almaz-Antey, which operates a Chinese factory capable of large-scale production.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission confirmed that Beijing’s backing spans intelligence sharing, military components, and economic aid that together have enabled Russia to sustain its war effort. Senior U.S. officials and former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have stated that China’s support has allowed Russia to carry out its largest military buildup since the Soviet era and maintain its aggression in Ukraine.

At the July 10, 2024, Washington Summit, all 32 NATO member states approved the alliance’s strongest language to date, condemning Beijing’s role in the war. Paragraph 26 of the NATO Washington Summit Declaration described the Chinese regime as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s aggression, citing its “no limits” partnership and large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base. The declaration warned that this cooperation increases the threat to Euro-Atlantic security and called on China to cease all material and political support, including transfers of dual-use materials and weapons components.

Gen. Chris Cavoli, then-commander of U.S. European Command, told lawmakers in April that despite heavy battlefield losses, Russia’s military is reconstituting and growing faster than most analysts anticipated. He noted that the Russian army, which has suffered an estimated 790,000 casualties, is now larger than it was at the beginning of the war, a development that U.S. officials attribute in large part to Chinese support.

Since the beginning of the war, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has not only denied supplying weapons or aiding Russia, but has also continued to claim neutrality in the Ukraine war, citing its official policy of nonintervention in the internal affairs of other countries. The reality, however, is that the CCP has taken a clear side. By directly supporting Russia, Beijing is not only prolonging the war but also undermining U.S. and NATO efforts to bring the conflict to an end.

Those expecting Russia to collapse under economic pressure or to exhaust its munitions and be forced to concede defeat will be waiting a very long time, as the Chinese regime continues to sustain and strengthen the Russian war machine.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.