China is Stealing Russia’s Battlefield Secrets in Ukraine

Key Points and Summary – Chinese state-affiliated hacking groups have reportedly been targeting Russian government agencies and defense companies since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a recent New York Times report.

-Despite their strategic partnership, China is allegedly seeking to steal Russian military secrets and gain valuable real-world data on drone operations, electronic warfare, and the battlefield performance of Western weapons systems used in Ukraine.

-A leaked Russian FSB document reportedly labeled Beijing an “enemy” for these actions.

-This espionage campaign allows China, a nation with no recent combat experience, to learn critical lessons without direct involvement in the conflict.

Why Is China Hacking Russia? Think the Ukraine War

Even as China reportedly provides covert support to Russian forces in Ukraine in the form of microelectronics and other technology, a new report claims that Chinese state-affiliated groups are hacking Russian government agencies and companies.

According to a New York Times report published last week, cybersecurity analysts believe that Chinese hacking operations have been in place since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion and intensified in May 2022.

The shocking claim suggests China may be seeking Russian military secrets. Specifically, the report claims that repeated cyberattacks on Russian agencies have focused on drone warfare, electronic warfare, and the battlefield performance of Western weapons.

One of the most notable cyberattacks occurred in 2023 when the Chinese group Sanyo gathered intelligence about nuclear submarines. Taiwanese cybersecurity researchers claim that the hacker group pretended to be representatives of a major Russian engineering firm to access the sensitive data.

Curiously, a classified document from Russia’s FSB (domestic security agency) obtained by the Times confirmed the cyberattacks and labeled Beijing an “enemy,” citing efforts to to acquire Russian defense technology and learn from its performance in Ukraine.

Why Not Just Ask?

Given Beijing and Moscow’s close diplomatic ties, especially at a time when Eastern-aligned powers are forming new strategic, economic, and security alliances, China’s espionage campaign may seem counterintuitive. The motivation behind it, however, is strategic.

At its core, this isn’t a matter of sabotage, but intelligence gathering. Chinese military planners appear to be interested in data that Russia may be willing or unable to share, even with its allies.

Russia has little incentive, after all, to fully disclose the battlefield performance of Western weapons, notably when those weapons outperform Russian systems. Sharing this kind of data could not only prove politically embarrassing. Still, it could also compromise Moscow’s propaganda efforts and inadvertently benefit NATO analysts if that information were accessed by non-Chinese networks. As a result, even close partners like China have been kept in the dark.

There’s also a transactional dimension to the problem. Due to Western sanctions, China is providing critical technologies and components that Russia can no longer source directly. Suppose Beijing were to request sensitive battlefield data. In that case, Moscow may see that as leverage that could force China into a quid pro quo it wants to avoid, particularly given its years-long refusal to intervene actively in the conflict in Ukraine.

For China, the value of intelligence goes beyond understanding the war in Ukraine. It provides a window into how NATO weaponry performs in real-world conflict – something China has never directly faced.

Despite having the world’s largest active-duty military force, estimated at 2.04 million personnel, and a navy that leads the world in ship count, China’s military lacks combat experience. Strategic planners in Beijing know that simulated war games can only go so far, and studying Russia’s struggles offers a rare, real-time military case study.

The data gathering, therefore, is likely to continue for as long as Russia continues to engage with Western military hardware in Ukraine and elsewhere.

About the Author:

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.

The Best Tanks on Earth

AbramsX: The Tank the US Army Wants 

M1 Abrams: The Best Tank On Earth?

Challenger 3: The British Army’s New Super Tank