LT Global Forwarding is registered in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia. The company maintains links with the Tatarstan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and participated in a public event held by the chamber with Chinese officials to promote trade relations with China. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tatarstan is a member of the supervisory board of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone.
According to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Gerbera drones are manufactured in Tatarstan at the Alabuga facilities. At the same time, LT Global Forwarding is not subject to international sanctions.
Alabuga is a special economic zone of industrial production type in the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation. During Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the production of Shahed drones was launched on the territory of Alabuga. Companies from Alabuga are under US and EU sanctions, and in 2024, Ukrainian drones attacked factories that produced Shahed drones.
In 2023, LT Global Forwarding imported cameras from the Chinese company Topotek for $5 M. According to the War and Sanctions portal of the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate, Topotek cameras were found in Russian Gerbera drones.
In 2023, LT Global Forwarding also imported data processing devices and antennas manufactured by the Chinese company Xingkaitech for $1.9 M. This is probably the XK-F358 mesh network modules, which are also used in Gerbera drones.
In addition to cameras and data processing devices, in 2023, Chinese companies supplied $1.1 M worth of engines for radio-controlled aircraft manufactured by Mile Hao Xiang Technology to Russia. According to the War and Sanctions portal, Mile Hao Xiang Technology engines were found in the Gerbera and Parodya unmanned aerial vehicles. These drones are used by the Russian army as fake targets to overwhelm Ukrainian air defense.
Since June 2024, China’s Mile Hao Xiang Technology has been under USsanctions for supplying components to Russia. However, the largest supplier of the found engines in 2023 was the Chinese company Yiwu City Duniang Trading, which supplied products worth $963 K.
Most of the engines were imported by the Russian company Sequoia, which is registered in the Skolkovo Technology Park, a science and technology center responsible for Russia’s strategic scientific research. Skolkovo has been under U.S. sanctions since 2022 for its work in the technology and defence sectors of the Russian economy.
Previously, the Trap Aggressor team examined Russian Shahed drones and was the first to publish a full list of foreign-made components in Shahed-238 modification.