Ukraine continues to snap up Chinese DJI drones for its defense

MILAN — Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the country’s forces are leaning heavily on Chinese DJI drones in the defense of their country, a claim that the manufacturer has since declared was news to them.

The Oct. 8 statement made by Denys Shmyhal at the Kyiv International Economic Forum that Ukraine is effectively buying 60% of DJI’s global output of Mavic quadcopter drones, even though the vendor officially prohibits selling to militaries, highlights how commercial technology with military utility can permeate conflict zones practically unimpeded.

Ukraine is also growing its own drone program, so it is hard to ascertain how reliant the country is on the small drones made in China, which has aligned itself with the attacker, Russia. In Europe, DJI Mavic-series drones sell on Amazon from €600 ($640) to several thousand euros, depending on the sophistication of the aircraft, onboard camera and user terminal interface.

“We are utterly surprised by the statement by the Ukrainian prime minister as he has no insight into DJI’s production numbers,” a DJI spokesperson told Defense News. “The statement bears no resemblance to reality and is totally misleading with regards to DJI’s involvement in the use of its production in Ukraine.”

All DJI distributors and resellers are contractually obligated to certify periodically that they are adhering to the ban, according to the representative, or risk facing the termination of their business ties with the company. “We regret deeply that our consistently repeated public condemnation of our products being used in combat is not being acknowledged by various stakeholders.”

According to a recent New York Times report based on official Ukrainian and Russian customs data from a third-party provider, between January and June, Kyiv is estimated to have received “millions” of Chinese-made drones and spare parts, primarily coming from European intermediaries.

In that same period, the article states, Chinese trading firms shipped no less than $14.5 million worth of drone equipment to Russia.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense did not return a request for clarification about whether the prime minister’s comments referred to a government acquisition program or unofficial procurement channels.

Ukraine’s allies have organized drone-support campaigns, often in the form of private donation drives, aimed at giving Kyiv’s forces an edge in drone-based surveillance and attack capabilities.

Meanwhile, Russian drone pilots and operators have been reported to learn flying Mavic drones at educational centers within the country.

The Ukrainian business intelligence consultancy group Molfar identified one of these as “Pustelga,” which in several recent publications on its social media stated that training is provided on Mavic drones.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify the role of Russian drone training outfit “Pustelga,” as claimed by Molfar.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——乌克兰总理丹尼斯·什米加尔表示，该国军队在保卫国家方面严重依赖中国大疆无人机，但制造商随后宣称，他们对此说法毫不知情。

10 月 8 日，丹尼斯·什米加尔在基辅国际经济论坛上发表声明称，尽管大疆创新（DJI）官方禁止向军方出售无人机，但乌克兰实际上购买了大疆创新全球 Mavic 四旋翼无人机产量的 60%。这一声明凸显了具有军事用途的商业技术如何几乎不受阻碍地渗透到冲突地区。

乌克兰也在发展自己的无人机项目，因此很难确定该国对中国制造的小型无人机的依赖程度，而中国已与袭击者俄罗斯结盟。在欧洲，大疆 Mavic 系列无人机在亚马逊上的售价从 600 欧元（约合 640 美元）到数千欧元不等，具体价格取决于飞机的复杂程度、机载摄像头和用户终端界面。

“我们对乌克兰总理的声明感到非常惊讶，因为他根本不了解大疆的生产数据，”大疆发言人告诉《防务新闻》。“该声明与事实完全不符，并且在大疆参与乌克兰生产使用方面存在严重误导。”

据该代表称，所有大疆分销商和经销商均有义务定期提交证明，证明其遵守禁令，否则将面临终止与公司的业务关系的风险。“我们深感遗憾的是，我们一再公开谴责将我们的产品用于战斗的行为，却未得到各利益相关方的重视。”

根据《纽约时报》最近一篇基于第三方供应商提供的乌克兰和俄罗斯海关官方数据的报道，据估计，1 月至 6 月期间，基辅收到了“数百万”架中国制造的无人机和零部件，主要来自欧洲中间商。

文章指出，同期中国贸易公司向俄罗斯运送了价值不低于 1450 万美元的无人机设备。

乌克兰国防部没有回复关于总理的言论是指政府采购计划还是非官方采购渠道的澄清请求。

乌克兰的盟友组织了无人机支持活动，通常以私人捐款活动的形式，旨在使基辅的部队在基于无人机的监视和攻击能力方面获得优势。

与此同时，有报道称，俄罗斯无人机飞行员和操作员正在该国境内的教育中心学习驾驶 Mavic 无人机。

乌克兰商业情报咨询集团 Molfar 发现其中一家名为“Pustelga”，该公司最近在其社交媒体上发布的几条消息称，提供 Mavic 无人机的培训。

编者按：本文已更新，以澄清俄罗斯无人机训练机构“Pustelga”的角色，正如 Molfar 所声称的那样。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。