Vita Golod and Dmytro Burtsev
One of the most striking features of the Russia-Ukraine war is how quickly it has transformed into a war of drones. What began as a conventional land invasion has evolved into a conflict in which low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – not tanks, aircraft, or missiles – shape daily battlefield outcomes. Drones now guide artillery, conduct surveillance, deliver precision strikes, and saturate air defenses. In this environment, adaptability and scale matter more than traditional military platforms.
And running quietly through this entire ecosystem is one country that has not fired a single shot – China. Beijing’s role in the war is not as visible as Iran’s Shahed drones or Western-supplied artillery systems. Instead, China’s influence is embedded in the technology itself – from finished civilian drones to the components that keep thousands of UAVs airborne each day. Amid the war, China’s dominance of global drone supply chains has become strategically indispensable to both Russia and Ukraine, revealing a new form of power rooted in civilian technology rather than military intervention.
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