Exports from China have helped russia triple its production of 9M723 ballistic missiles for the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system. These missiles have subsequently been used by the aggressor to strike Ukrainian cities. In addition, in 2024 China accounted for 70% of russia's total imports of ammonium perchlorate, a critical component for the production of solid rocket propellant.
These findings are cited in russia's Grinding War in Ukraine, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which outlines various aspects of cooperation between China and russia.
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The authors note that in 2024 russia–China trade turnover reached $250 billion, compared to $190 billion in 2022. Against this backdrop, China became russia's largest trading partner, accounting for 33.8% of russian trade in 2024, up from just 11.3% in 2014.
russia is increasingly dependent on China as a key buyer of its crude oil. In 2024, russia significantly increased its share in China's crude oil imports, with some estimates indicating figures as high as 75%, compared to 60–65% in 2022.
Beyond aggregate trade data, CSIS experts also emphasize that in the military-technical domain China has "significantly increased" deliveries to russia of so-called priority items from a list of 50 dual-use goods. These include machine tools and microprocessors.
russia lacks sufficient domestic capacity to manufacture all required dual-use goods, whereas China is capable of producing some of these priority items in large quantities.
In addition to ammonium perchlorate, russia has also received UAV airframes, lithium batteries, and fiber-optic cables from China. These components are essential for the production of fiber-optic-controlled drones.
From Defense Express, we emphasize that a comparison of data from 2023 and 2025 confirms claims of a threefold increase in the production of ballistic missiles for the Iskander system. For example, in December 2025 the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine released data on russia's missile arsenal, stating that the enemy possessed a stockpile of approximately 200 9M723 ballistic missiles, with production reaching up to 50 missiles per month.
Data from January 2023 indicate that from February 2022 up to that point russia had produced only 36 9M723 ballistic missiles, while expending as many as 744 missiles over the same period. By November 2023, however, production had already increased to approximately 30 missiles per month.
Thus, even based solely on these figures, a clear trend is evident: just 36 missiles produced during the first 11 months of the full-scale war; around 30 missiles per month by November 2023; and up to 50 missiles per month by December 2025.
Ivan Kyrychevskyi, serviceman of the 413th Raid Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine and weapons expert at Defense Express.
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