China’s deepening role in Russia’s drone war effort became even clearer this week after corporate filings revealed that a Chinese supplier of drone components has quietly become a co-owner of “Rustakt,” one of Russia’s leading FPV-drone manufacturers and the producer of the BT-40 attack drone, Financial Times reported on November 29.
According to corporate disclosures submitted in September and reviewed by the outlet, Chinese businessman Wang Dinghua acquired a 5% stake in Rustakt. Shenzhen Minghuaxin and other companies tied to Wang—all based in Shenzhen—are major suppliers of drone components to Rustakt and its affiliated Russian firms.
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Within a day of journalists accessing the documents, all ownership records related to Rustakt disappeared from Russia’s official corporate registries. The information confirming the share transfer was also deleted from private databases, FT noted.
Prior to the purge, filings showed that 95% of Rustakt was controlled by Russian businessman Pavel Nikitin. An analysis of Russian customs data indicates that Minghuaxin supplied $304 million worth of components to Rustakt, as well as another $107 million in goods to the related company Zavod Santex.
Customs records show Rustakt purchased from Minghuaxin include $110 million in lithium-ion batteries, $87 million in engines, $64 million in controllers, all since mid-2023.
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Santex acquired an additional $66 million worth of controllers and $37 million in DC motors.
Nikitin previously worked at Santex and held shares in the company before being replaced by a Belarusian citizen named Yegor Nikitin. According to Russian filings, Yegor and Pavel share the same surname, patronymic, and date of birth.
Corporate filings in China indicate that Wang Dinghua owns 10% of Shenzhen Nasmin Investment, while the remaining 90% belongs to Yegor.
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Rustakt has also imported manufacturing equipment from China, obtaining licenses to bring in metal-cutting machines and plastic injection-molding systems supplied by Shenzhen Kiosk Electronic, another company where Wang holds a controlling stake, according to Chinese registries.
Rustakt is known to be a participant in Russia’s classified “Doomsday” drone project and was the country’s largest importer of FPV-drone components from July 2023 to February 2025.
A former Ukrainian officer working with Frontelligence Insight told FT that the BT-40 has undergone multiple upgrades since its battlefield debut.
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“Since the drone appeared on the battlefield in 2023, it has gone through several iterations to improve electronic-warfare resistance and enhance control systems… While it doesn’t stand out in any single feature, mass production, low cost and availability make it a reliable workhorse for Russian forces.”
Earlier, while reporting from the frontline, UNITED24 Media cameraman Yegor Terletskyi and reporter Philip Malzahn came under sudden attack by a Russian first-person-view (FPV) drone. The drone—controlled via fiber-optic cable—had been lying in wait along the roadside. The 65th Brigade of Russia’s Airborne Assault Forces (VDV) has already released footage of the strike.
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