AS part of its “Vast Ocean Plan” for global expansion, one of China’s largest automotive companies recently announced its sponsorship of Portugal’s national football team.
“Europe stands as a strategic priority,” Changan Automobile said in a press release in May, adding that its partnership with the Portuguese Football Federation offered a new opportunity for “brand engagement across the region.”
In an earlier phase of a global push by the state-owned company, Changan moved into Russia. Later, as international car makers left following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Changan started exporting more vehicles to fill the gap in the market, according to the industry analysis group inovev.
Reporters found that some of those vehicles have been used in Russia’s war against Ukraine, as launchpads for models of drones known to have attacked both military targets and civilians.
Changan Automobile did not respond to requests for comment.
The Portugal Football Federation said the contract with Changan was signed after being reviewed for “the tight Federation compliance rules.”
Trucks at War
IN March, a unit of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces published a video on Telegram showing strikes on Changan Hunter pickups fitted with launch pads for Russian drones, including the Geran model.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US think tank, Russia acquired the original design for the Geran from Iran and has innovated it over the past few years. Today, the Geran is one of the main weapons deployed by Russia, targeting both Ukrainian military and civilians.
In July, a Changan Hunter appeared in a video published by Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. The video shows Russian soldiers in camouflage and masks assembling several drones, including a Geran, and arming it with an explosive device. The video then shows a drone being launched from a speeding Hunter pickup.
A screenshot from a video published on the Russian social media platform VK shows Russian soldiers wearing camouflage uniforms and masks assembling drones.
The Hunter also featured in another Russian media campaign. In January 2025, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced that five armored Changan pickup trucks would be sent to the “special military operation,” as Russian authorities refer to their war in Ukraine.
In addition to Russian military propaganda, the Hunter pickup truck has been featured on the website homepage of Changan Automobile. Splashed across the page showing five members of Portugal’s national football team and several Changan models was the slogan: “Stay in the Game.”
“In football, staying ‘in the game’ means total commitment –— to every tackle, every second of concentration, and every precise pass,” Mi Mengdong, Changan Automobile’s vice president, said in a press release at the May launch of the sponsorship campaign.
“For Changan, it means continuous investment, relentless innovation, and standing firmly with our users,” he added.
Imports and Discounts
It is unknown how many Changan vehicles are in use by the Russian military, but customs data obtained by reporters shows that 327 Hunter pickups were imported in 2024. Another 145 arrived during the first three months of 2025.
All except two of the vehicles were delivered to Changan Motors Rus, a Russian subsidiary that is 100-percent owned by the Chinese conglomerate. Changan Motors Rus did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Reporters used the Vehicle Identification Number of a Changan Hunter pick up mentioned in customs data to trace it to a local dealership in Naberezhnye Chelny, a city in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan.
Naberezhnye Chelny is about 37 kilometers from the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, which was launched in 2006 with the goal of attracting western companies, according to CSIS, the U.S. think tank.
“But when those companies started pulling out of the region at the onset of the war in Ukraine, Alabuga pivoted to producing drones for Russia’s military,” CSIS said in a report.
Since then, “Alabuga has become synonymous with production of the Geran,” according to CSIS. The U.S. and European Union have both sanctioned Alabuga.
In order to better understand how the company’s vehicles are deployed in Ukraine, a reporter posed as a buyer from Alabuga looking to buy 36 trucks. The reporter spoke to a representative of Changan Motors Rus, explaining that the trucks would be used to launch drone strikes and mentioning that this could be made public in some kind of “advertisement.”
“We’ve had such experience before, and it seems we had no problems,” the representative said.
The representative did not raise any issues with the trucks being put to military use, but did mention: “At the moment we have discounts.”