By using engines and other spare parts from ChinaRussia began last year to produce a new long-range attack drone, the Garpiya-A1, which it has developed in Ukraine, according to two European intelligence sources and documents seen by Reuters.

The information, which included a production contract for the new drone, corporate correspondence about the manufacturing process and financial documents – said IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, produced more than 2,500 Garpiyas from July 2023 to July 2024.

The existence of the new Russian drone incorporating Chinese technology has not been previously reported.

IEMZ Kupol and Almaz-Antey did not respond to requests for comment.

The two sources said Garpiya has been deployed against military and civilian targets in Ukraine, causing damage to critical infrastructure, as well as civilian and military casualties.

The two sources also shared with Reuters photos they said were of debris from a Garpiya crash in Ukraine, without giving further details.

Reuters found information that supports this conclusion, but was unable to independently confirm the images.

The sources asked that neither they nor their agency be named because of the sensitivity of the information. They also asked that certain details, such as dates, related to the documents be suppressed.

Samuel Bendett, of the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security, told Reuters that if the information is confirmed, it means Russia is not so dependent on Iran’s long-range drone plans.

“If this is the case, it could suggest that Russia may now rely more on domestic production and obviously on China,” he said.

Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China’s foreign ministry told Reuters that Beijing strictly controls exports of items with potential military applications, including drones.

“Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, China has always been committed to promoting peace talks and political settlement,” the statement said.

He added that there are no international restrictions on China’s trade with Russia.