Commerce Min Denies Drones Supplied To Russia For Battlefield Use

(MNI) London-Wires carrying comments from the Chinese Commerce Ministry hitting back at claims that it has been supplying drones to Russia for use in its invasion of Ukraine. Ministry: "China firmly opposes false information by US and Western media on China's drone export, and the attempts to smear Chinese firms.' Adds that China resolutely opposes use of civilian drones for 'non-peaceful purposes'. Ministry states that it 'will continue to take necessary measures to strengthen export controls on drones.'

• The so-called 'Discord leaks' of highly classified Pentagon docs indicated, according to a WaPo story, that Russia had said that China agreed to supply it with weaponry.
• In late March, theNew York Times wrote that "In the year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China has sold more than $12 million in drones and drone parts to the country, according to official Russian customs data from a third-party data provider. [...] The result is a steady supply of new drones to Russia that make their way to the front lines of its war with Ukraine."