How Russia and China Technologically Enable Authoritarian Partners

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has not only accelerated the erosion of the international order but also deepened its partnership with China. Beijing has made clear it does not want the war to end and Russia to lose, viewing Ukraine as the battlefield that weakens the West while advancing its own vision of an autocracy-led world, starting with Taiwan.

Venezuela, once a marginal player, has become Latin America’s most advanced drone producer, fielding Iranian-designed strike drones through covert cooperation with Tehran. Rybar, a major pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, has even suggested sending Russian Geran drones to Venezuela, claiming they could target U.S. bases in the Caribbean and hit the U.S. mainland.

Though North Korean troops suffered heavy early losses due to poor preparation and coordination, Ukraine’s spy chief, Kyrylo Budanov, warned that they are adapting quickly—learning to use drones, move in small groups and defend against modern systems. This battlefield experience, unprecedented for Pyongyang, is now being passed back to its 1.3 million-strong army.

‘[U.S. President Donald] Trump understands how dangerous regimes like North Korea and Iran are, but he must also recognise that Russia is actively supporting them,’ said Oleksandra Ustinova, a Ukrainian member of parliament.

‘These countries are not traditional allies; they are strategic partners in an anti-Western bloc,’ she added. ‘Unlike democratic nations, where military aid often requires debate and approval, Putin simply calls up Tehran or Pyongyang and gets what he wants.’

North Korea now supplies an estimated 40 percent of Russia’s artillery needs and has even sent thousands of troops to support Moscow’s war. In return, Moscow is helping Pyongyang build Shahed-style kamikaze drones and has even provided a nuclear reactor to support North Korea’s submarine fleet development. Budanov warned that if North Korea gained the capacity to mass-produce Shaheds, it could launch swarms capable of overwhelming South Korean air defences and striking targets anywhere in the country.

North Korea’s role in Russia’s war effort now extends beyond sending artillery and troops. General Staff Chief Andrii Hnatov told Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform that Moscow may have been using around 20,000 North Korean workers in military production, particularly to manufacture Geran drones in Tatarstan. ‘That is also participation in the conflict,’ Hnatov said.

‘The world is increasingly divided between democratic nations and authoritarian regimes—Russia, Iran and North Korea among them,’ Ustinova said. Even in the Middle East, Moscow provided satellite targeting data to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, enabling them to strike commercial shipping in the Red Sea in 2024.

Ukrainian cities are now being pounded by waves of cheap Russian drones, sometimes more than 800 in a single night. Iran helped Moscow build the initial factories that scaled production of the Shahed models, which became Russia’s mainstay strike drone. According to Heiner Philipp, an engineer with Technology United for Ukraine, Russia has since integrated Chinese GPS equivalents to Kometa-M receivers into these systems, making them harder to jam and more accurate on target.

In May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that China had effectively cut Ukraine off from critical drone supplies while keeping the pipeline open for Moscow. ‘Chinese Mavic is open for Russians but is closed for Ukrainians,’ adding that Chinese representatives were even present at production lines on Russian territory. Reuters reported that even Chinese military officers were on the front studying the war, with Beijing’s permission.

Kyiv’s intelligence services say China has provided Russia with satellite data to help guide missile strikes on Ukraine, including against facilities owned by foreign companies. According to Oleh Alexandrov of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, there is ‘high-level cooperation’ between Moscow and Beijing in conducting satellite reconnaissance of Ukrainian territory. According to the Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi, during the massive Russian missile and drone strike on 5 October, at least three Chinese reconnaissance satellites from the Yaogan-33 series flew over western Ukraine—the main target of the attack.

China is also directly supplying machine tools, special chemicals, gunpowder and other components to some 20 Russian military factories. By early 2025, roughly 80 percent of critical drone electronics in Russia were of Chinese origin.

On 25 September, Reuters reported that Chinese drone experts had travelled to Russia to work with sanctioned arms maker IEMZ Kupol, and had even helped develop new models. Documents also show Kupol received shipments of Chinese-made attack and surveillance drones through intermediaries. Leaked Russian documents suggest that Moscow has begun supplying Beijing with equipment and training that could accelerate China’s airborne capabilities by a decade or more.

‘Every day in Ukraine, equipment is recovered with Chinese components—not just frames, but chips and systems. Russia and China are clearly sharing technology,’ said Deborah Fairlamb, founding partner of Ukraine-focused venture capital firm Green Flag Ventures. ‘Add in North Korean troops reportedly on the battlefield, and you see how much this “axis” is learning and advancing together.’

Bill Cole, chief executive of the Peace Through Strength Institute, told me in an interview that these regimes weren’t just sharing engineering support; they wanted to experience modern warfare firsthand. ‘Defeating Russia isn’t only about Europe,’ he said. ‘It’s about stopping the spread of battlefield lessons to authoritarian regimes that will use them against us.’

The drone alliance between Russia and China is booming, with their allies reaping the benefits of greater technological cooperation. The longer the war drags on, the more lessons Moscow learns and passes on to its partners in this axis. Yet the West still treats these flashpoints as isolated conflicts, while authoritarian regimes are learning, adapting and helping arm each other. Unless confronted as a unified threat, this authoritarian axis will only grow technologically stronger.

David Kirichenko is an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.

This article appeared originally at The Strategist (ASPI).