Reuters has obtained military documents and interviewed drone trainees confirming that the Russian and Chinese militaries signed a bilingual cooperation agreement in July 2025.
Under the arrangement, approximately 200 Russian soldiers are sent to Beijing, Nanjing and other military facilities in China for systematic training. The programme covers drone warfare, electronic warfare, army aviation and countermeasure operations. Sources familiar with the matter say the scale and structure of the training do not fully match what has been publicly disclosed.
The report also states that the agreement includes provisions for Chinese personnel to receive training in Russia. The actual implementation, however, differs from official public narratives and is not described as involving third-party mediation, suggesting the cooperation is highly confidential in nature.
Multiple intelligence sources indicate that personnel from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have also been involved in related operational training programmes since 2024, with cooperation between the two militaries now expanding further. Analysts say China’s relative scale advantage in drone warfare and related technologies allows it to provide training in areas such as flight operations, electronic countermeasures and systems integration, while Russia provides battlefield experience drawn from the war in Ukraine.
According to Russian military documents, the training is conducted in multiple phases and locations and includes electronic warfare, naval coordination and aviation exercises, as well as drone simulation and tactical drills.
The report further notes that some Russian personnel who participated in the training programmes were later deployed to the battlefield in Ukraine.