China sold two satellites to Prigozhin's group, which were used to prepare the Wagner PMC's rebellion

A company associated with the Wagner PMC has purchased two remote sensing satellites from a Chinese company. The contract between the Chinese Beijing Yunze Technology Co Ltd and the Russian Nika-Frut was signed in November 2022, eight months after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. The contract is worth more than $30 million.

Source. This was reported by the AFP news agency.

According to an unnamed security source in one of the European countries, the contract provides for the provision of images on request, which allowed the PMC to receive satellite images of both Ukraine and areas of Africa where mercenaries operated, including Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Mali.

Moreover, according to the same source, at the end of May 2023, the PMC ordered images of the territory of Russia: from the Ukrainian border to Moscow, the route the PMC convoy was taking during its mutiny.

The agency's source also said that the contract with the Chinese firm is still in effect: the satellites – JL-1 GF03D 12 and JL-1 GF03D 13 – are in orbit at an altitude of 535 km above the Earth.

Gregory Falco, an aerospace researcher at Cornell University in the United States, believes that the PMC's use of Chinese technology shows Russia's limitations in this sector:

"Russia does not have this kind of capability. Their satellite program has not been successful recently. They can't do it on their own. This is something they are not very good at, while China is at the top of the game," he said.