China sending body armor components to Russia, investigation finds

China has allegedly been sending body armor components to Russia that are being used by soldiers fighting in Ukraine, according to an investigation. The probe used customs and trade data, personal accounts of Ukrainian soldiers, as well as photographs viewed by Politico to reveal that several Chinese companies, some of which are state-associated, have provided crucial components of the armor to Russian body armor manufacturers that are closely connected to law enforcement and the military.

While the extent of the use of the Klass vests is unknown, it is the first instance in which Chinese body armor components have been confirmed to be used by Russia in Ukraine. In addition, some of the body armor was taken from Russian soldiers by Ukrainians and was put up for sale on eBay.

The double status of body armor as both commercial and military equipment means it blurs the line between what constitutes military aid and what doesn’t, leading to an awkward situation for the United States. Ivan Kanapathy, the former director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the National Security Council, said: “The administration has likely seen a lot of things in the record that are discomforting. But they could say, ‘Well, it is not a surface-air missile system, so maybe we’ll just kind of look the other way on this…The line is fuzzy by design. And the assessment is being influenced by the U.S.-China relationship, perhaps naively hoping that China isn’t already in the Russia camp.”

Two of the Chinese companies that shipped the materials were Yantai Tayho Advanced Materials Ltd., which produces specialized fiber, and Beijing Tongyizhong New Material Technology Corp., which sells polyethylene fiber products and is connected to the Chinese government.

One of the Ukrainians looking to sell the body armor on eBay told Politico that it had been captured during the country’s successful counteroffensive in the Kharkiv oblast in September. “This bulletproof vest was used in the Russian army and was obtained by the Ukrainian military during the counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region,” he said. “During the liberation of the city of Izyum in one of the houses where the [Russians] temporarily lived, they ran away so quickly that they abandoned their things.”

The United States has imposed some sanctions on Chinese companies that have provided Russia with materials to assist in the war effort, including drones.