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The new information highlights how Russia continues to rely on China for help propping up its war effort in Ukraine despite western pressure on Beijing to scale back its support for Moscow. | Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

A Russian body armor manufacturer is importing Chinese components for its vests some of which are being used on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to trade data, photographs and Ukrainians who say theyve recovered the vests from the front lines.

In 2022, multiple Chinese companies, including one linked to the government in Beijing, sent parts for body armor manufacturing to Klass, a Russian manufacturer of body armor with ties to the countrys national guard and law enforcement, according to customs and trade data obtained by POLITICO from Import Genius, a customs data aggregator.

Armored vests produced by the company are being used by Russian troops in Ukraine, according to photos and videos posted online, and Ukrainians who are selling the vests on eBay say they took them from the battlefield.

While its unclear if the Russian militarys use of the Klass vests is widespread, it is the first confirmation that Chinese-made protective equipment is being used by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

The new information highlights how Russia continues to rely on China for help propping up its war effort in Ukraine despite western pressure on Beijing to scale back its support for Moscow.

The revelation also raises questions about how the U.S. plans to address with Beijing the issue of dual-use items commercial equipment that can also be used for military purposes.

The administration has likely seen a lot of things in the record that are discomforting. But they could say well, it is not a surface-air missile system so maybe well just kind of look the other way on this, said Ivan Kanapathy, the former director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia at the National Security Council. The line is fuzzy by design. And the assessment is being influenced by the U.S.-China relationship, perhaps naively hoping that China isnt already in the Russia camp, Kanapathy said.

The Biden administration has so far been hyper-focused on preventing Beijing from sending large amounts of weapons to Moscow weapons that could significantly alter the course of the fighting on the ground.

But a pattern may be emerging that suggests the administration needs to look more closely at dual-use items. This month, POLITICO reported that Chinese companies linked to the Beijing government were sending commercial assault rifles, drone parts and body armor to Russian entities. The drones have for months been seen on the battlefield.

The Treasury Department declined to comment. NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the U.S. has imposed extensive sanctions and export controls against companies that have enabled Russias war in Ukraine. We will continue to take action against companies that provide support to Russias war effort, Watson said.

POLITICO reviewed dozens of photos on social media sites and Google as well as several videos published on the Russian site VKontakte of Klass body armor parts. The videos, including one published in November 2022, specifically provide a glimpse into the manufacturing process of the Klass body armor.

Antifragmentation suits, bulletproof vests and textiles and stacks of specialized fibers appear in the clips. The photos, some of which were published on eBay, show the fully constructed Klass vests being sold by Ukrainians who say they captured them on the battlefield in the last year.

It was not clear when those Klass vests were manufactured, or if they included Chinese components, but the import data shows that its likely they did.

Klass, based in Moscow, imported parts for the manufacturing of its armored vests from China multiple times in 2022, including in November and December from several Chinese companies, according to the trade and customs data. Those parts included aramid fibers the same kind of fibers found in Kevlar vests.

The Russian distributor has a long-standing business relationship with Russias national guard, the ministry of internal affairs, the federal penitentiary services and other state military units, the data shows. In a press release posted on its website, Klass said it presented its body armor products to the leaders of the ministry of internal affairs in November 2022.

The Chinese companies that shipped the products include Yantai Tayho Advanced Materials Ltd, a producer of specialized fiber, and Beijing Tongyizhong New Material Technology Corp, a seller of polyethylene fiber products, a subsidiary of one of Beijings state-owned investment holding corporations.

Neither Klass nor the two Chinese companies responded to a request to comment.

Klass body armor products have previously been recovered from the battlefield in Ukraine before Russias invasion in 2022, said Lynn Hughes, an analyst on the research team at Import Genius who first identified the body armor components being shipped from China. The Ukrainian army picked up a Russian ballistic vest manufactured by Klass in 2019, according to a report from Conflict Armament Research published that same year.

Ukrainians who captured the Klass body armor on the battlefield in 2022 are now trying to sell them for money. POLITICO contacted several sellers on eBay all of whom said they had either served in Ukraine or knew someone who did and that they had taken the Russian vests directly from the battlefield.

This bulletproof vest was used in the Russian army and was obtained by the Ukrainian military during the counter offensive in the Kharkiv region, said one of the sellers, who was granted anonymity for security reasons. During the liberation of the city of Izyum in one of the houses where the [Russians] temporarily lived, they ran away so quickly that they abandoned their things.

U.S. officials have said they arent overly concerned about these dual-use items showing up on the battlefield, as Russia has long imported this kind of technology from China.

In response to a question about POLITICOs initial report March 16 about Chinese companies sending assault rifles, drone parts and body armor to Russia, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby described the relationship between the Chinese and Russian entities as long standing. He said the U.S. had not seen evidence that suggested the items had ended up on the battlefield.

We dont want anyone to do anything that will help them kill more Ukrainians, period, Kirby added.

But some of the dual-use items are being used in fighting in Ukraine and not all of the contracts are longstanding, according to the data.

The 1,000 assault rifles the Chinese state-backed defense contractor sent Russia in the summer of 2022 marked the first time Chinas North Industries Group Corporation sent the distributor a large shipment of weapons. The last time it sent the Russian distributor Tekhkrim rifles was in 2018, and it sent only two of them, according to an analysis of historical trade data by C4ADS, a research organization based in Washington.

C4ADS has also studied the use of Chinese drones by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine. The drones have been widely reported and photographed as being deployed by Moscow during the war. The U.S. sanctioned one of the main Chinese suppliers of those drones last year.

The administration continues to downplay it because theyve drawn a red line. Declaring that China has crossed that line is irreversible and necessitates a strong U.S. response. But not declaring it gives China wiggle room, Kanapathy said. Xi Jinping is getting that sense, having pushed it little by little. And if the U.S. continues to say, no, we havent seen a violation, then what is Chinas takeaway?

The Chinese embassy declined to comment.

The Biden administration must decide which exports pose the biggest risk and then whether to penalize individual sellers or take broader action against the Chinese government, a move that would carry broader economic consequences and almost certainly invite retaliation from Beijing.

Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Commerce Department has imposed export restrictions on hundreds of products that contain American-made components or technology and could be used to support the Russian military. It has also added a long list of companies, including several based in China, to a trade blacklist as punishment for shipping controlled goods to Russia.

And the Biden administration has sought to expand its crackdown on Russias access to technologies with U.S. components that can be used for military and commercial purposes since the war entered its second year. In February, the Commerce Department issued new restrictions on a range of products, including toasters and coffee makers, in a bid to further strangle the Kremlins supply of semiconductors.

But the products listed in the Import Genius data likely do not contain U.S. materials, making it difficult for the administration to directly stop their shipment to Moscow. The Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on some Chinese companies that have supported Russias efforts in Ukraine, but it is not clear they are eyeing the businesses included in this report.

The Commerce Department declined to say whether its officials were aware that Chinese-made body armor has been used in Ukraine or have any immediate plans to target the companies involved in their sale.

We continually review reports of Russian military equipment used in Ukraine to assess whether there are actions we and our allies can take to impair Russias ability to produce or acquire such equipment, said Commerce Department spokesperson Jessica Stallone. We will not hesitate to use all the tools at our disposal to obstruct the efforts of those who seek to support Putins war machine.

William Reinsch, a former undersecretary of Commerce for export administration during the Clinton administration, argues its impossible for the U.S. to completely cut Moscow off from many exports. Not only are some foreign-made products beyond the governments reach, but the sale of illicit goods will always be lucrative enough to attract bad actors, said Reinsch, who is now at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

If your policy is zero leakage, he said, then youre doomed and youre going to fail and youre going to spend a lot of money trying to stop things that you wont be able to stop.

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Russian body armor on the battlefield in Ukraine has links to China - POLITICO

The WHO Country Office in Ukraine, with support from the European Union (EU) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has donated an additional 33 ambulances to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to enable the provision of emergency medical care to patients during the war.

The handover of ambulances took place on 27March in Lviv, western Ukraine, at a ceremony held jointly with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, EU Humanitarian Aid and USAID. Participants included DrViktor Liashko, Minister of Health of Ukraine, DrJarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine, MrMaciej Popowski, Director General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, and MsTatiana Rastrigina, Senior Project Management Specialist at the USAID/Ukraine Health Office.

The donation includes 20 ambulances equipped with a stretcher and first aid equipment that are intended for the transportation of non-critical patients. A further 13 ambulances equipped withpatient ventilators, oxygen supply, medication bags and other equipment will allow the transportation of seriously injured patients to health facilities.

The ambulances will be distributed to hospitals and emergency medical centres throughout the entire country, with a particular focus on the eastern part of Ukraine.

The purpose of this donation is to further enhance the timeliness and quality of health services provided by national emergency medical services. This further strengthens the capacity of Ukraines health system to lead the activation and coordination of this response in the immediate aftermath of any emergency, explained DrHabicht during the ceremony.

The availability of ambulances is a priority to reduce mortality from emergency situations and mass casualty events. By providing these emergency vehicles, we pursue the goal of ensuring adequate conditions to provide urgent medical care and to further improve emergency response practices in Ukraine, he added.

Since 24February2022, a total of 56 ambulances have been donated to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine by WHO and its partners.

DrLiashko expressed, I want to thank our partners for their strong support. Despite all the odds, we work together to provide Ukrainians with high-quality, affordable and free medical help. Soon, we will send 33 ambulances to the regions where they are needed and will help our brave medics to save people's lives.

MrJanez Lenari, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, said, It is one of our top priorities to support the Ukrainian health-care system, which has come under extreme pressure since the start of the war. We are working with partners like WHO to ensure that medical professionals have the means and equipment to reach people in urgent need of medical assistance. These ambulances will save lives across the country, including in hard-to-reach areas.

USAID/Ukraine Mission Director MrJames Hope noted, These ambulances, co-funded by the United States and the European Union, will help Ukraines emergency workers respond to crises on the ground. It is just one example of how USAID assistance helps Ukraine meet urgent needs created by the war. We will continue partnering with the European Union, WHO and other partners to provide Ukraine with lifesaving support.

WHO has delivered more than 3000 metric tonnes of lifesaving medical supplies to Ukraine since the war began, including in hard-to-reach areas close to the front line. Deliveries have included power generators, ambulances, oxygen supplies for medical facilities, supplies for trauma and emergency surgeries, and medicines to help treat noncommunicable diseases and more.

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With EU and USAID support, WHO donates more ambulances to ... - World Health Organization

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Britain and Poland will build two temporary villages in western and central Ukraine to provide housing for those forced from their homes by Russia's invasion, London said on Tuesday, pledging 10 million pounds ($12.3 million) in funding.

Almost 118,000 Ukrainians have been hosted by British families as part of the government's response to Russia's February 2022 invasion, but some are finding it increasingly difficult to get permanent housing.

Britain's government said the villages in Lviv in western Ukraine and Poltava in central Ukraine would be able to house more than 700 people, a fraction of the millions either displaced in Ukraine or who have fled the country.

"For the past year, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has continued to target civilian homes and infrastructure, with the Ukrainian people paying a heavy price," British foreign minister James Cleverly said in a statement.

"This new UK-Poland partnership will help bring light, heat and homes to those most in need."

($1 = 0.8149 pounds)

Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Kylie MacLellan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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UK, Poland to build new temporary villages in Ukraine - Reuters

LONDON/KYIV, March 28 (Reuters) - The steady stream of wounded soldiers into a clinic for artificial limbs in Kyiv is a stark reminder of the human cost of Russia's war on Ukraine, where military casualties are a secret closely guarded by both sides.

Unrelenting artillery fire along a 1,000-km (600-mile) front line and Russia's frequent use of missiles across the country mean that shrapnel wounds are maiming people in Ukraine on a scale just beginning to emerge.

"Unfortunately, the number of patients has increased significantly," said Andrii Ovcharenko, who works with a team of medics and technicians at the "Without Limits" prosthetics clinic, one of almost 80 now operating in Ukraine.

Clinic owner Nagender Parashar's Kyiv-based company made about 7,000 prosthetic components in the second half of last year, equal to the total produced in 2021. "It's still not enough," he said.

Parashar has 25 specialists at the nine clinics he owns in Ukraine; the busiest - Kyiv and Lviv - would see 20 to 30 patients a month, but now it is three times that number and he says he needs up to 75 more specialists to cope.

Russia has poured extra troops and artillery into the fight this year and some analysts have compared the months of intense, inconclusive trench warfare in eastern Ukraine to World War One.

"There really is a shortage of prosthetists, because there are a huge number of people requiring prosthetic treatment coming in every day," Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko told Reuters in an interview.

"Now the priority is upper limbs, so those specialists who deal with this are overloaded."

On a recent morning, Ovcharenko's Kyiv clinic assessed two soldiers for artificial legs and adjusted the new limb of a third. A handful more came for rehabilitation exercises. Staff said a recent Russian missile attack on Kyiv had put others off.

Denys said he lost his left leg when a Russian missile landed 50 metres from his unit in the eastern city of Kramatorsk.

"My comrade behind the dugout received shrapnel wounds and bled to death," the 28-year-old told Reuters as he sat in a wheelchair, declining to give his full name.

He said it was a gift from God that he had survived and there was no sense in complaining. He planned to return to civilian life once he had recuperated. According to Ovcharenko, many amputee soldiers volunteer to return to the war.

Dmytro Zilko had a newly fitted artificial limb to replace his right leg, amputated after a shell landed nearby during fighting in a village close to the eastern town of Bakhmut - where the fiercest battles of the conflict still rage.

"They cut my leg off in Druzhkivka," the 22-year-old said, referring to a town west of Bakhmut. "This is my fourth exercise day. As soon as I stood on my prosthetic leg, I felt alive."

Germany's Ottobock - the world's biggest prosthetic equipment maker by market share - sold roughly twice as many foot prosthetics in the second half of 2022 as all of 2021, its CEO Oliver Jakobi told Reuters, attributing the rise to the war.

Before Russia's full-scale invasion 13 months ago, the ratio of lower limbs and upper limbs was about 9 to one, while it was now probably 50-50, he said.

Ukraine has around 300 prosthetists, technicians and apprentices, but only five can fit functional devices like hands and arms, said Antonina Kumka, founder of charity Protez Hub which works with 79 prosthetics clinics across the country, up from 65 in 2021.

Artificial limbs like elbows are in demand, she added, with some people having to wait up to six months to be fitted.

At least 100 patients had been fitted abroad, she said, noting that the practice is not ideal given patients need long-term follow-up.

Experts say Ukraine will need big investment in infrastructure and staff to deal with amputees needing help for years to come: a lower limb prosthetic can cost anywhere from $500 to as much as $70,000 for more sophisticated equipment.

The number of prostheses paid for by Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy jumped more than 15% to 13,219 in 2022 from a year earlier, according to previously unreported ministry data.

Healing following amputation surgeries before new limbs can be fitted can take up to four months and there is another lag before the government makes a payment.

U.S. Army General Mark Milley estimated in November at least 100,000 Russian military casualties - killed or wounded, with "probably" the same for Ukraine. Some Western officials have suggested that number had doubled on the Russian side by February. Neither side gives updated figures.

Oleksandra Kazarian, CEO of the Ortonet association for prosthetic and orthopaedic enterprises in Ukraine, said the numbers treated by one company, Tellus, had risen 20% last year from nearly 600 a year earlier across three clinics. It expects another 30-40% rise in 2023.

It plans to expand, depending on how the war unfolds but is not sure where to open new clinics.

"Where's a safe place?" Kazarian said. "You never know."

Additional reporting and writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Josephine Mason and Philippa Fletcher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ukraine needs more prosthetics clinicians as war toll mounts - Reuters

Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, has today defended plans to get Russian and Belarusian athletes back into competitions as neutrals.

He claimed their participation "works" despite the war in Ukraine.

The IOC sanctioned Russia and Belarus after the 2022 invasion, but is now eager to see athletes have a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

It has set out a pathway for these competitors to earn Olympic slots through Asian qualifying and has left it up to international federations to decide on organisation.

But Ukraine has since threatened to boycott the Paris 2024 Games should these athletes try to compete there, even as neutrals.

"Participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in international competitions works," Mr Bach said today.

"We see this almost every day in a number of sports, most prominently in tennis but also in cycling, in some table tennis competitions.

"We see it in ice hockey, handball, we see it in football and in other leagues in the United States but also in Europe and we also see it in other continents," he said.

"In none of these competition security incidents have been happening."

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Ukraine war - latest updates: Russia says it has intercepted US ... - Sky News