China supplied Ukraine with tens of thousands of drones to strike Russia

China supplied Ukraine with tens of thousands of drones to strike Russia.
Iran has sold Russia thousands of drones to bomb Ukrainian cities, and another 6,000 drones are to be produced in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone under an Iranian license. Meanwhile, Ukraine buys drones in much larger quantities to shell the enemy's front-line positions from another partner of Russia – China.
Ukraine has found ways to get tens of thousands of drones, as well as to establish a flow of spare parts for them from China, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Purchases of finished products, primarily from SZ DJI Technology, are carried out in stores and from suppliers. In addition, Chinese components are used in drones of their own production, which is growing rapidly.
According to Giorgi Tskhakaia, the Defence Adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation, over the past year and a half, the number of drone manufacturers in the country has grown from seven to almost 300. Hundreds of thousands of simple, cheap devices that can carry explosives are produced in an artisanal and industrial way.
Every month, the Armed Forces of Ukraine use about 10,000 drones on the battlefield. DJI told the Wall Street Journal that it tries to limit the use of its products for military purposes, but cannot control their use after purchase.
The US ban on the use of DJI drones for the military, as well as Chinese components in the production of their own drones, was one of the reasons why US-made drones are too expensive. Although the US tried to supply Ukraine, many American commercial drones cost tens of thousands of dollars more than Chinese models. In Ukraine, we would like to test and use more American drones, but "we are still looking for more cost-effective solutions," Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Giorgi Dubinsky told.
In addition, every drone software update requires Pentagon approval. However, the situation on the battlefield is changing so quickly that programmers and engineers have to constantly make adjustments to their models. “What flies today, can't fly tomorrow,” Dubinsky says, “We need to adapt quickly to emerging technologies. The innovation cycle in this war is very short.