Overview
- Multiple intelligence-based reports say roughly 200 Russian personnel attended PLA-run courses in China covering drones, electronic warfare, counter-drone systems, and CBRN defenses.
- Reporting traces the program to a reciprocal training agreement in mid-2025 and a classified Russian decree authorizing the courses, with high-ranking officers named in the documents.
- Some of the trainees are reported to have been deployed to Ukraine by early 2026, creating direct operational concerns about battlefield implications.
- Germany held urgent talks with China’s envoy this week and European and NATO officials are assessing diplomatic responses that could include sanctions if the allegations are verified.
- China’s Defence Ministry has called the claims groundless while verification is constrained by classified source material, leaving investigations and diplomatic pressure as the main tools for now.