China raises price of optical fiber for russia 4 times. It is actively used for FPV drones

Chinese companies have raised prices for fiber-optic cable for buyers from the aggressor country of russia since the beginning of this year. On average, the price of the cable has increased by 2.5-5 times compared to the beginning of 2025.

The russian propaganda outlet Vedomosti reported this information, citing its own sources on Thursday, February 26.

China accounts for about 60% of the world's optical fiber production, so Beijing reserves the right to dictate prices. Due to the development of artificial intelligence and drones, the demand for optical fiber has increased worldwide. Russian companies are no exception.

The publication writes that at the beginning of 2025, a kilometer of standard G.652D cable cost russian customers about RUB 220. At the end of 2025, the cable was supplied to russia for about RUB 275 rubles per kilometer. And in January this year, its price was already about RUB 460 per kilometer.

In 2025, Ukraine and the aggressor country russia together consumed about 50-60 million kilometers of optical fiber. Its high consumption is due to the fact that FPV drones equipped with it are insensitive to electronic warfare (EW), as the signal from the operator to the drone goes directly through the cable.

Russia is forced to buy so much optical fiber from China because its only cable production facility has not resumed operations since the Ukrainian drone attack in the spring of 2025.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in November 2025, the Financial Times wrote that China is skinning russia for supplying the goods it needs to produce weapons and continue the war against Ukraine.