A Russian Gerbera drone shot down over Ukraine was found to contain footage showing a camera test at a Chinese factory. Militarnyi reports that the footage was stored inside the onboard Viewpro A40 camera.

Chinese factory video found in shot-down Russian drone

Ukrainian defense forces recovered a Gerbera drone equipped with an A40 camera from the Chinese company Viewpro. According to Militarnyi, the footage discovered inside the drone showed a test of this camera conducted at Viewpro’s production site in Shenzhen.

The “About Communications by Serhii Flash” Telegram channel published the footage and stated that it showed the camera being tested at the Chinese factory. 

The Viewpro facility is located in the Aotexing Science Park in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District.

Cyber Boroshno geolocated the footage using coordinates 22.554448, 113.944050 and confirmed that it was filmed at that exact location. The community stated that although the address from the manufacturer’s website does not appear correctly on Google Maps, translating it into Chinese and checking it through Baidu confirmed the location with complete certainty.

Chinese components repeatedly found in Russian drones

Militarnyi notes that Russia continues to receive large volumes of components and finished products from China for use in military systems, including drones.

In March 2025, Militarnyi reported that a new 16-element CRPA antenna had been discovered inside a Shahed kamikaze drone. That antenna was designed to overcome Ukrainian electronic warfare systems.

Russia has also placed significant orders for drone battery systems and continues to cooperate with China in other areas related to unmanned weapons.

In July 2024, the New York Times reported that Russia was importing sanctioned equipment through Hong Kong for use in drone production and other weapons systems.