Russia Is Increasing Its Military Industrial Base With China’s Assistance During The Ukraine War: US

Russia-Ukraine War: According to the United States, China, an ally, is helping Russia carry out its most ambitious weapons production expansion since the Soviet period. Officials from the Biden Administration claim that, under the background of the current conflict, Beijing is significantly assisting Moscow in strengthening its defence industrial base.

US authorities said that despite Kyiv’s challenges with a lack of military hardware and weapons, China’s backing has allowed Russia to continue its offensive on the country. Another official said that Chinese and Russian organisations had been collaborating to manufacture drones inside Russia.

Republicans in the US Congress are continuing to obstruct a vote on a fresh round of US military assistance to Kyiv, which makes the situation worse for Ukraine.

“Getting the People’s Republic of China to stop assisting Russia in rebuilding its military industrial base is one of the most revolutionary things we can do right now to support Ukraine.” A senior administration source said that China’s “materials are filling critical gaps in Russia’s defence production cycle” and that “without PRC inputs, Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort,” CNN reported.

Russia’s military might prior to the conflict in the Ukraine
According to the CNN report, US European Command commander Gen. Chris Cavoli told lawmakers this week that Russia has been “quite successful” in reorganising its military after invading Ukraine more than two years ago and that the force has essentially “grown back” to its pre-invasion level. China is mostly at fault for that quick build-up, US officials are now emphasising.

As an illustration of this growing relationship between China and Russia, a second source said that in 2023, 90 percent of Russia’s imports of micro-electronics came from China, which Russia has used to create missiles, tanks, and planes.

According to authorities, a major factor in Russia’s fast-increasing output of artillery rounds is the nitrocellulose that is imported from China. This occurs at a time when CNN reported earlier this year that Russia seems to be on course to create almost three times as much artillery ammunition than the US and Europe combined.

China is assisting Russia in enhancing its satellite capabilities.
In addition to military gear, the officials said that China is assisting Russia in enhancing its satellite and other space-based capabilities for use in Ukraine and is supplying images to Russia for its conflict with that country. They added that a portion of this material is derived from declassified US intelligence.

China’s assistance is making up for the major losses Russia’s defence sector suffered from US sanctions and export restrictions early in the conflict in Ukraine.

In a phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, President Joe Biden voiced concerns over China’s backing of Russia’s defence industrial base. This came after other officials had brought up the issue with their Chinese counterparts on many occasions, according to authorities.

According to the authorities, Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought up the issue with US partners on his most recent trip to Europe. Though sometimes it takes time for improvements to materialise, the US has not seen any stoppage in the continuous Chinese assistance since that phone chat between Biden and Xi.

China has refrained from arming Russia with deadly weapons, as the US has advised since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. However, CNN said that in some instances, the contributions may have an equal or greater influence than the weapons.

China must back Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. US officials said that, despite the difficulty in measuring their effectiveness, it is critical for the US and its allies to convince China to halt this behaviour. During a phone chat with President Vladimir Putin earlier this year, Xi announced the start of a new year of increasing collaboration with Russia.

During her visit to China earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued a warning to the country, threatening “significant consequences” if Chinese businesses assist Russia in the conflict in Ukraine.

The CNN report claims that the Biden administration also issued an executive order that targets foreign banks that assist the Russian defence industrial base. In response, the US has been in contact with banks all over the world to strengthen their compliance systems in order to prevent unintentionally becoming involved in this trade, which could lead to US sanctions.