Russia received more than $60 million worth of aircraft tires and tire-production materials from China in 2024, critical for Su-34 and Su-35S military aircraft, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reports, citing new research by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine (ESCU).
According to ESCU, due to intensive takeoffs and landings, Russian military aircraft require tire replacement roughly every 10 days. Analyzed customs data show that the Kremlin received aircraft tires from China — worth $10.3 million, accounting for 85% of total imports in 2024 — as well as raw materials for tire production, including aramid fibers ($9.3 million, 85% of imports) and rubber ($42 million, 22% of imports).
Despite this, only one of the nine companies supplying tires to Russia is currently under U.S. sanctions. Two more companies are among the ten suppliers of aramid fibers and the ten suppliers of rubber.
“Without Chinese supplies, Russia would not be able to maintain sufficient military capacity for a prolonged war,” emphasized Roman Steblivskyi, Policy Expert at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine (ESCU), in an interview with CNA. He also noted that, in addition to raw materials, Russian military factories heavily rely on Chinese microelectronic components and computer numerical control (CNC) machines used for metal, plastic, and wood processing.
Earlier, the Economic Security Council of Ukraine identified a critical dependence of Russian aviation — including Su-34 and Su-35S aircraft — on Indian fuel additives and natural rubber supplied from the EU, which still remains unsanctioned.