Chinese online retail service AliExpress has blocked the sale of drones to Russians.

According to the Militarny, in particular, the sale was blocked by Chinese companies DJI and Autel.

Currently, when switching from Russian IP addresses to the product page, an error message appears with the inscription: “Page unavailable.”

In addition, drones already sold will be limited in functionality. DJI removed drone control apps from the Russian AppStore. The company responded to complaints from Russians that they no longer provide them with their services, and also do not provide “services for some military activity.”

With the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, unmanned aircraft underwent significant development and became the basis of many military operations. Civilian drones are used as a powerful means of visual reconnaissance to detect enemy positions, artillery of tanks, adjustment of artillery fire, etc.

Chinese-made aerial drones, such as DJI products, are actively used by both sides for military purposes.

In addition to reconnaissance, small drones also began to be modernized for the use of free-falling ammunition on enemy positions or armored vehicles. Recently, with the help of a DJI drone, a fragmentation and thermobaric grenade was dropped into the open hatch of an abandoned Russian BMP-2, which led to the destruction of the vehicle.

In addition to small drones, numerous sports FPV-drones are also sold on the Aliexpress platform, They have gained popularity in the war thanks to artisanal processing into ultra-cheap and effective kamikaze drones with anti-personnel or anti-tank combat warheads.

Cameras installed on board the drone and modern communication facilities allow the operator to control the aircraft in real time while remaining at a safe distance.

Drone operators say that their models are able to hit targets at a distance of up to 10 kilometers.