China’s escalating conflict with the US over trade is now extending to the drones that have become a vital part of Ukraine’s defense.

We don’t even hear them anymore,” Zhenya chuckles from under first-person-view (FPV) goggles branded with the U.S. company “Fat Shark.” Zhenya and his co-developer for DragoDrones, or DCU, Maksym, are testing a stack of small FPV drones in a field in Kharkiv Oblast.

China is reportedly making drones for Russia instead, according to multiple intelligence officials, but China has denied any weapons manufacturing for either side of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The restrictions by China form part of a wider export ban on drone components that could be announced in January, according to Bloomberg.

According to Bloomberg's findings, Chinese authorities are close to deciding to significantly limit the supply of drones and components to the West. Both American and Ukrainian media note that without affordable Chinese technology,