US sanctions Chinese firms accused of helping Russia make attack drones

The US Treasury on Thursday announced sanctions against two Chinese makers of drone engines and parts that the Biden administration said directly helped Russia build long-range attack drones used in the war in Ukraine.

The US has previously accused China of providing material support to Russia’s military-industrial base to sustain the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine, and the latest round of sanctions sought to target the “direct activity” between Beijing and Moscow, according to senior Biden administration officials, who discussed the sanctions on the condition of anonymity before the measures were announced.

Russia’s Garpiya series long-range attack drone, “designed and produced in the People’s Republic of China in collaboration with Russian defence firms, has been used to destroy critical infrastructure and has resulted in mass casualties” during the war in Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Beijing has insisted that it does not provide weapons to either Ukraine or Russia, and it has defended its trade with Russia as normal and above board.

The US is imposing sanctions on Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Company, which produces drone engines, and Redlepus Vector Industry, which has worked with a Russian entity already facing sanctions to facilitate the shipment of the drones to Russia.

The administration officials said China should have known that the Russian entity, TSK Vektor, was a “problematic actor.”

They indicated that the two Chinese firms had been developing long-range attack drones with the Russians since the beginning of the year.

The administration also announced sanctions against Artem Mikhailovich Yamshchikov, a Russian national described as the beneficial owner of TSK Vektor, and the Russian entity TD Vector, which has been involved in facilitating the shipments, the officials say.