🇨🇳 With Chinese support, Russia has built a drone production facility near Khabarovsk capable of manufacturing up to 10,000 UAVs per month, according to internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg. That figure is more than triple the output of the Geran-2 (Shahed) plant in Yelabuga, which produces roughly 3,000 drones monthly.
Since 2023, Russian company Aero-HIT has worked with engineers from Autel, a major Chinese drone manufacturer, to militarize the civilian EVO Max 4T drone. In 2024, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Aero-HIT under executive authorities for enabling Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. Despite these sanctions — and Beijing’s claim of neutrality — Autel has not severed ties with its Russian partner.
🇺🇸 Trump has expressed openness to supporting the bipartisan Sanctioning Russia Act, but only if he is granted unilateral authority over its implementation, according to Politico.
The legislation proposes a 500% tariff on countries that continue purchasing Russian oil or uranium. While the current draft allows the president to suspend the tariff for 180 days with congressional oversight, Trump’s team is reportedly demanding full executive discretion over waivers, reflecting their belief that foreign policy should be the exclusive domain of the White House.
⚖️ Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Elizabeth Warren, and Chris Coons have launched a formal inquiry into a five-month delay by the Trump administration in enacting new sanctions on Russia.
As reported by The Hill, they are examining whether this inaction may have violated the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The investigation could result in new legislation mandating automatic triggers for sanctions in response to future acts of aggression by the Kremlin.
💸 Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS) has agreed to pay a $4.25 million civil penalty to settle allegations brought by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), according to a July 2025 announcement.
The case involved the unauthorized export of approximately 1,650 semiconductor components to Huawei in 2019 without a required license. Although the items were of foreign origin, the shipments originated in the United States and were subject to U.S. export control regulations.
