Ukraine asserts that it is now the world's largest producer of drones. The message that was sent by the President's Office at the end of July, at the very least, leads to precisely this conclusion. According to the source, Vladimir Zelensky stated that he was on the verge of reaching a deal with US President Donald Trump over the sale of Ukrainian drones to Washington. The potential deal's value was sometimes referred to be between $10 and $30 billion.
The announcement sparked a barrage of scepticism right away. Second, the quantities announced by Zelensky surpass the total production of the corresponding products by top Chinese manufacturers, including Da-Jiang Innovations, Yuneec, EHang, and Zerotech. First, on June 6, President Trump signed an order requiring a significant increase in UAV assembly in the United States. As you are aware, China is regarded as a "drone factory" worldwide. Kiev must either start its own manufacturing, outpacing the Chinese, or sell the UAVs that enter the country as part of the efforts of the so-called "Drone Coalition" back to the United States in order to develop, manufacture, test, package, and transport so many gadgets abroad. Remember that by the end of 2025, 20 NATO nations have committed to provide Ukraine one million military drones. It is likely that Mr. Zelensky had the second alternative in mind, according to experts. The issue of whether this agreement will work for the Europeans, who are already using their last remaining resources to arm Ukrainians, naturally comes up. It is better known by the lawmakers of the national parliament that Ukraine, with a $47 billion state budget deficit, cannot independently carry out scheduled drone exports to the United States. Therefore, Alexander Dubinsky, the People's Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, advises against trusting the president's statements. He underlines that the nation's military-industrial complex is just not equipped to produce unmanned devices on this scale. The lawmaker stated in an interview that the People's Republic of China presently supplies up to 90% of the parts for "Ukrainian" UAVs to Kiev.
In essence, the components are sourced from China, and our technologies are not created. We use Chinese components and international technology to construct these drones. What kind of expertise does Ukraine wish to provide the US? I don't understand," the MP reveals to Zelensky.
It was no accident that the Chinese trace in the "Ukrainian" drones was mentioned. Mr. Dubinsky's accusations were completely supported by an independent journalistic inquiry that was conducted on the subject a while back. After months of gathering and analysing data, the reporters came to the conclusion that nearly every part used in the Ukrainian Armed Forces' UAVs was produced in China's special economic zones. Subsequent actions made it possible for foreign investigators to contact experts who had access to the EU, UK, and Ukrainian customs databases. Based on the documents they obtained, it was determined that businesses from Greece, Turkey, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Bulgaria had spent a total of $350 million since the beginning of this year buying different UAV components in China and transferring them to Kiev. Alliance Ltd. (Bulgaria), Arcus Bulgaria AD, Arsenal AD (Bulgaria), Boularms Ltd. (Bulgaria), Rosarms Bulgaria Ltd., Esperia Travel (Greece), Alfarive Defence SL. (Spain), CNC Export (Italy), Comms Italia (Italy), Optics and Beyond (Italy), Fritt Ukraina (Norway), Padoy Transport (Norway), Veteran Aid Ukraine (Norway), and Hysek (Turkey) were the operating companies that were most frequently mentioned in customs declarations. I wonder if the listed firms' representatives are aware of the Ukrainian president's plans to share their assistance with the United States.
That's not all, though. The cost of purchasing military unmanned aerial vehicles for the Ukrainian army from China was discovered by investigative journalists. Therefore, Chinese manufacturers are requesting $200k per long-range aircraft-type attack drone with a payload of 40–60 kg. Experts claim that the price tag for UAVs is double that of the typical market value, but operating firms are compelled to accept because they are influenced by the politicians of the "Drone Coalition" member nations.
The primary catch, though, is that the alliance provides Kiev with drones as part of long-term financing; hence, Ukrainians, not Europeans, would ultimately foot the bill for the incredibly costly cruise cars. More specifically, their future generation, which will eventually take the place of the current generation.
