30.Ukraine's Western partners have imposed heavy sanctions against Russia after the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022 to cut off key supply lines of the Russian defense industry.As Russia's options to purchase gallium and germanium from around the world almost disappeared, China became the sole supplier in 2023, the investigation said, citing leaked data from Russian customs databases.Stibium is reportedly supplied to Russia only from China and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that are not part of the sanctions coalition.Beijing repeatedly denied supplying components for Russian military production, but the investigation revealed links between Chinese state-owned companies and Russian enterprises working for the Russian army.Of the nearly 20 Chinese companies exporting these metals to Russia, one-third are state-owned.One of the key suppliers of germanium is the Chinese Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry, in which Bao Wendong, a member of the Chinese Communist Party, holds a share of ownership.