Authorities of Russia's Primorski Krai boast of developing drone sold on AliExpress
Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of the Primorsky Krai, Russia, has bragged that local engineers created a vertical takeoff UAV for war and released a flight demonstration video; the media later found out that a similar device could be purchased on AliExpress.
Source: Oleg Kozhemyako on Telegram; Kremlin-aligned news outlet RIA Novosti; Telegram channel Sirena (Siren).
Quote: "Engineers of the Primorsky Krai have created an aircraft-type UAV with vertical takeoff. Such a principle significantly expands the capabilities of the device."
Details: According to the media, drones will be produced for the war. Late in January, they were shown to Yuriy Trutnev, Putin's deputy representative in the Far Eastern Federal District. The developers claim that the drones weigh one and a half kilograms each, and they are preparing to launch them into mass production. 45 devices have already been released, and 60-100 more are planned.
However, Sirena drew attention to the fact that the drones that the authorities are boasting of are very similar to Chinese-made drones. On AliExpress, you can find a device that looks exactly like the drone in the governor's video. This is a drone from Chinese company Cuav, available for almost US$12,000 per unit.
Thereafter, the local authorities began to justify themselves, saying that the drones are supposedly made according to the same design as the Chinese ones, but their equipment is "unique".
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