China sold the Russian Federation raw materials used to make Iskander-M ballistic missiles, enabling the Russian military to receive three times more missiles in 2025 than before, analysts say. Beijing’s support helped shore up Moscow’s defense-industrial base, allowing Russia in 2026 to fire salvos of 13 to 18 ballistic missiles at a time, according to the analysis.
Since 2022, China has nearly doubled trade with Russia, a shift that helped the Russian army hold out through 2026 and increase the number of Iskander-M missiles, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said. In total, imports from China now account for about 30% of Russia’s imports, while Russian oil makes up roughly 75% of the crude China buys, according to the report. Analysts paid particular attention to defense-related imports that supplied machine tools, components and raw materials for weapons production.
CSIS said that in 2024 China increased sales to Russia of ammonium perchlorate, a key ingredient in solid rocket propellant for Iskanders. That support helped triple Russia’s ballistic missile output, the report said.
Russia’s defense industry also received computer chips, machine tools, radars and sensors, CSIS wrote. In all, the list covers about 50 items that enable weapons production. The assistance also included drone airframes, lithium batteries and fiber-optic cables. According to CSIS, imports from China to Russia were about $190 billion in 2022 and reached $250 billion in 2024.
In December, media reported a new modification of Russia’s Iskander-M missiles. During one strike, Russia used an extended-range missile capable of reaching 800–1,000 kilometers, reports said. A few weeks earlier, in November, experts said Russia could produce about 60 Iskander missiles per month.
On January 30, analysts at Defense Express highlighted shortfalls in PAC-3 interceptors for the Patriot air defense system, which is used to counter Russian ballistic missiles. They estimated Russia launches about 60 Iskander-M missiles at Ukraine each month, while U.S. industry produces only about 50 PAC-3 interceptors monthly, which are then shared among all operator nations.
In late January, Ukrainian forces pointed to another avenue for evading sanctions: installing SpaceX Starlink terminals on drones (Shahed, Molniya and BM-35).
Separately, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat described a new Russian airstrike strategy that leans more heavily on ballistic missiles. On February 2, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced steps to restrict the use of Starlink terminals on Russian weapons.
