Overview

• Beijing Xichao, SMP-138 and LIBSS have covertly shipped L550E engines labeled as industrial refrigeration units to IEMZ Kupol since late 2024.
• An internal Kupol document shows a 2025 contract to produce 6,000 Garpiya-A1 drones—triple 2024 output—with over 1,500 delivered by April.
• Ukrainian intelligence reports Russia deploys roughly 500 Garpiya-A1 attack drones per month against deep civilian and military targets.
• Transportation records indicate Sichuan Airlines and China Southern Airlines moved drone components to sanctioned Russian firms despite Western sanctions.
• Western diplomats have pressured Beijing to enforce stricter export controls and customs scrutiny to disrupt sanctions-evasion networks supplying drone engines.