‘No longer neutral’: Why West can no longer ignore China’s role in Russia-Ukraine war

DragonBear axis reshapes Ukraine war

Geopolitical strategist Velina Tchakarova has warned that China is no longer a neutral actor in the war in Ukraine, arguing that Beijing is now “getting embedded inside Russia’s drone war machine and war economy”.

In a detailed post on X, Tchakarova cited an investigation by the Financial Times, which found that a Chinese businessman had acquired a 5% stake in Rustakt, a key Russian drone manufacturer. According to the probe, Chinese suppliers shipped “$400M+ in motors, batteries, controllers, optics”, while machine tools and microchips account for “up to 90% dependence on China”. She also pointed to reports that “Chinese engineers made on-site visits to Russian arms plants” and that “shareholder records were deleted in Russia after exposure”.

“This is DragonBear in strategic action through silent co-production, not an overt strategic alliance,” Tchakarova wrote. She argued that while Russia wages both a hybrid war against Europe and a conventional war against Ukraine, “China supplies, shapes the process, and benefits from the weakening of the old continents & Russia’s war efforts”.

🇨🇳🇷🇺 The DragonBear is entering the Second Phase of its modus operandi of strategic entanglement. China is no longer a “neutral” actor in the Ukraine war. It is now getting embedded inside Russia’s drone war machine and war economy.FT investigation confirms that a Chinese…
— Velina Tchakarova (@vtchakarova) November 30, 2025

Tchakarova also linked the Ukraine battlefield directly to the security of Taiwan, writing: “The war in Ukraine is now structurally linked to China’s rise and its strategic contest with the West.”

She cautioned that lessons drawn from sustaining Russia’s drone warfare under sanctions could later be applied to a future conflict in the Indo-Pacific. “The Russia case is giving China live data on how to run an industrial war under sanctions and export controls,” she added, warning that this experience could be transferred to a Taiwan contingency.