Ukraine Alleges China Provides Satellite Imagery To Support Russian Strikes

Ukraine accused China of taking its support for Russia’s illegal invasion to new heights — specifically, hundreds of miles above the Earth. On October 4, an official from Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service told Ukrinform that Chinese reconnaissance satellites are supporting Russian strikes in Ukraine. This charge builds on similar U.S. and Ukrainian allegations levied earlier in the war, highlighting one of the ways that Beijing has abetted Moscow’s illegal invasion.

Ukrainian and American Allegations

“There is evidence of a high level of cooperation between Russia and China in conducting satellite reconnaissance of Ukraine’s territory to identify and reconnoiter strategic targets for destruction,” said the Ukrainian intelligence official, Oleh Aleksandrov. Some of the targets Russia has hit “in recent months … belong to foreign investors,” he added, likely referring to an American-owned electronics plant in western Ukraine that suffered a Russian missile strike in August. The next day, Ukrainian media reported that several Chinese remote-sensing satellites had passed over western Ukraine during a large Russian missile and drone barrage focused on the Lviv region.

While Beijing and Moscow both denied Aleksandrov’s claim, this is not the first time China has been accused of helping Russia supplement its more limited satellite reconnaissance capabilities. In 2023, the U.S. government imposed sanctions against several Chinese firms for providing satellite imagery of Ukrainian territory to the Russian private military company Wagner. The Treasury Department also accused another Russian company of having “shared foreign high-resolution satellite imagery with Russia’s military.”

According to Agence France-Presse, a Wagner-linked company even acquired a pair of satellites from one of the Chinese firms, Chang Guang Satellite Technology, which the Trump administration later accused of supplying satellite imagery to the Houthi terror group in Yemen. (The Ukrainian and American militaries likewise use commercial satellite imagery, and Kyiv suspects the Russian military has also obtained some Western commercial satellite imagery via intermediary companies.)

In April 2024, Bloomberg reported that Washington was “warning allies that China has stepped up its support for Russia, including by providing … satellite imagery for military purposes” along with assistance for Russia’s defense industry. U.S. officials also said China was helping Russia bolster its own space-based capabilities. In September 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed he had “recent information” indicating that Russia had received Chinese satellite imagery of Ukrainian nuclear power stations.

Sino-Russian Partnership in Space

China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine is part of a broader strategic alignment that stretches into space. For example, in 2021, the two countries announced plans to build an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), and Chinese and Russian officials say they are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the Moon to power the station.

In addition, Beijing and Moscow have engaged in cooperation regarding BeiDou and GLONASS, their respective global navigation satellite systems. This includes a 2022 agreement to build BeiDou and GLONASS ground monitoring stations in each other’s countries, aimed at improving the performance of both systems.

In 2019, President Vladimir Putin revealed that Russia was helping China develop its missile early warning system. The head of Russian defense contractor MAK Vympel later said the company was helping the Chinese with the system “in a whole number of areas,” including modeling, space situational awareness, and radio-electronic systems.

Washington Should Hold China Accountable for Supporting Russia’s War Effort

If China is abetting Russian missile and drone barrages against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, Beijing should be made to answer for its actions. Washington should consider declassifying any additional intelligence it has on this matter. The Trump administration should also consider imposing sanctions against any culpable Chinese companies that have yet to be designated.

Keti Korkiya is a research analyst with the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where John Hardie is deputy director. For more analysis from the authors and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow John on X @JohnH105. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.