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Reuters
Reuters
Business
By Stephen Grey, Maurice Tamman and Maria Zholobova

Exclusive-The global supply trail that leads to Russia’s killer drones

An undated handout image of a Orlan 10 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) published by the Russian Defence Ministry. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

The hundreds of Russian drones hovering ominously over the Ukrainian battlefield owe their existence to an elastic, sanctions-evading supply chain that often runs through a shabby office above a Hong Kong marketplace, and sometimes through a yellow stucco home in suburban Florida.

The "Sea Eagle" Orlan 10 UAV is a deceptive, relatively low-tech and cheap killer that has directed many of the up to 20,000 artillery shells that Russia has fired daily on Ukrainian positions in 2022, killing up to 100 soldiers per day, according to Ukrainian commanders.

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