Reuters: About two hundred Russian military personnel were trained in China to work with drones, some of them are fighting in Ukraine

About two hundred Russian military personnel received drone training in China at the end of last year, Reuters reported , citing three European intelligence sources.

This happened as part of a secret agreement concluded by the Russian and Chinese militaries in July 2025. In addition to two hundred Russians, it also involves training “hundreds of Chinese military personnel” in Russia.

Reuters said the agreement involved training at military sites including Beijing and Nanjing, and in addition to drones, it also covered electronic warfare, army aviation and infantry fighting vehicles.

The training participants, with ranks ranging from junior sergeant to lieutenant colonel, were “high-ranking military instructors capable of passing on the acquired knowledge further up the chain of command.”

“Some” of the Russians then “returned to fight in Ukraine” and “participated in combat operations using drones in Russian-occupied Crimea and the Zaporozhye region.”

“Chinese military visits to Russia for training have been occurring since at least 2024, but the training of Russian personnel in China is a new phenomenon,” Reuters recounts the words of representatives of the two intelligence agencies.

“While Russia has extensive combat experience gained from Ukraine, China's vast drone industry provides technological expertise and advanced training methods such as flight simulators,” the agency continues.

The defense ministries of Russia and China did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry told the agency that the country “consistently adheres to an objective and impartial position on the issue of the Ukrainian crisis and promotes peace negotiations.”