According to The New York Times, Chinese government hackers have been hacking into Russian defense structures since 2022 in search of data on the war in Ukraine, drones, and electronic warfare systems.
Groups linked to the Chinese government have regularly carried out cyberattacks on Russian companies and government institutions since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
As The New York Times reports, citing data from analysts at TeamT5 and Palo Alto Networks, these actions were aimed at obtaining military technology and experience.
The first major fractures began in May 2022 – just a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine – and have continued uninterruptedly since then. This happened despite public statements by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping about a “new era of strategic partnership.” Analysts believe that China views Russia not as an equal ally, but as a source of vulnerable information and combat experience.
For example, in 2023, the Chinese hacker group Sanyo, recorded by TeamT5, posed as employees of a large Russian engineering company. The goal of the attack was information about nuclear submarines. According to researcher Che Chang from TeamT5, Beijing is seeking to gain access to data on the progress of the war in Ukraine, military developments, and Moscow's geopolitical maneuvers.
Some hacker campaigns targeted Rostec, a state-owned defense holding company operating in the satellite communications, electronic warfare, and radar industries. In some cases, specialized malware was used, in particular Deed RAT, which, according to Positive Technologies, is part of the arsenal of Chinese government hacker groups and is not sold on the darknet.
Despite the declared strategic partnership with China, internal FSB documents obtained by the NYT reveal deep mistrust. The text directly calls China an “enemy” and links Beijing's focus to UAV intelligence, software, and electronic warfare technologies.
Russian officials have not commented publicly on these attacks. At the same time, according to Western experts, the war in Ukraine has significantly changed the priorities of Chinese intelligence. Experience of real combat, Western-made equipment, tactics and countermeasures – all this can be valuable to Beijing, in particular in the context of a potential conflict over Taiwan.
The Kremlin and the Chinese Embassy in Moscow did not respond to requests from The New York Times for information about the data.
Earlier it was reported that the confrontation between the intelligence services of Russia and China is escalating, despite public assurances of friendship between Putin and Xi.
