— A Chinese state-owned company supplied a sanctioned Russian firm with materials sufficient to produce carbon fiber for as many as 1,300 long-range kamikaze drones, according to internal shipping documents obtained by POLITICO.The records show that Jilin Chemical Fiber Group shipped up to 46 tons of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor to Alabuga-Volokno, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom. Alabuga-Volokno supplies high-grade carbon fiber used in Russian Geran attack drones produced at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan.
The shipment was declared under a customs code associated with civilian synthetic fibers rather than the code normally used for the dual-use PAN material. Former U.S. sanctions officials said the apparent mislabeling could indicate an effort to conceal the sensitive nature of the shipment.
The Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre says it has identified at least eight tenders involving shipments of PAN precursors from Jilin to Alabuga-Volokno since 2022.
The documents have been reviewed by the U.S., UK, and Ukrainian governments, with the U.S. House Select Committee on China determining them to be legitimate. The evidence could provide grounds for sanctions against Jilin, which is not currently under Western sanctions.
