According to an investigation by BIC, an OCCRP member [organizacja pozarządowa promująca dziennikarstwo śledcze]the Belarusian company Zavod Santex delivered Chinese quadcopters to companies producing some of the most widely used kamikaze drones in Moscow.
The Zavod Santex factory in Belarus' second largest city, Gomel, produced cast iron cookware in Soviet times. Today, it still produces kitchen utensils, buckets and garbage containers.
However, customs data shows that in 2022 and 2023, the company again exported 309 drones to Russia that were built by Chinese companies. The drones were worth $2 million. (PLN 7 million), and exports took place after China suspended direct sales.
The shipments went to two Russian companies, Santross LLC and Rustakt LLC. Both companies are owned Belarusian-born businessman Pavel Nikitinwho is also the owner of Zawod Santex.
War interests
Rustakt has become one of the main assembly centers for FPV drones in Russia – these are “first person view” unmanned aerial vehicles, which means that the operator controls them using video goggles. The drones are equipped with explosives and directed to collide with targets and explode. Kamikaze drones include the VT-40.
— VT-40 is one of the main FPV drones in Russia. It has been used many thousands of times and killed many Ukrainians – David Hambling, a British journalist and military technology specialist, tells BIC.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency identifies Nikitin's company, Rustakt, as the manufacturer and seller of the VT-40 drone, which plays a key role in the Kremlin's “Doomsday” program, a project that involves training drone pilots for the war in Ukraine.
Nikitin was born in Minsk in 1977, but at the beginning of the 21st century he moved to Russia and accumulated shares in about 20 companies. Several of them supply the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard. Although he renounced his Belarusian citizenship in 2010, he or his relatives still own shares in at least four Belarusian companies, including Zavod Santex.
Nikitin ended the call when contacted by BIC reporters. Neither he nor his companies responded to written requests for comment.
Thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his armed forces would send 1.5 million drones against Ukraine in 2024, raising questions about how his country is able to maintain deliveries.
BIC obtained Belarusian customs documents showing that over the last three years, Rustakt has purchased from three Chinese companies drones and almost 3.5 million electric motors — sufficient to produce approx. 870 thousand drones.
The documents also include evidence that Rustakt also purchased other types of components, including 1.3 million lithium-ion batteries. The total value of purchases from Chinese companies amounted to USD 323 million. (PLN 1.1 billion).
These findings build on previous BIC reports showing that Belarusian intermediaries have helped Russia bypass restrictions on the supply of Chinese drones since the full invasion of Ukraine began. In 2022–2025, at least 14 Belarusian companies sold over 20,000 units to Russia. drones worth at least USD 34 million. (PLN 122 million).
Drones and more
The restrictions introduced by Alexander Lukashenko in October 2022 in order to keep prices low and stop inflation have made the cultivation of potatoes, which are crucial for Belarus, much less profitable for farmers. This led to a number of problems, POLITICO reported in June.
Critics say decisions made by Lukashenko's team halted production last year and forced many desperate farmers to selling their crops to neighboring Russiawhich humiliated the regime in Minsk and paralyzed grocery stores that counted on selling potatoes at low prices.
Price controls introduced by Minsk have made sales to Russia very profitable. According to data, in March potatoes cost more than twice as much in Russia than in Belarus. In 2024, Belarus exported approximately 200,000. t potatoes to Russia, thus becoming the largest supplier of this basic food product to its neighbor.
