DJI suspends sales in Russia and Ukraine amid hostilities to avoid the use of its drones in combat

After maintaining that it wants to stay out of geopolitics, DJI confirmed that it would suspend its business activities in Russia and Ukraine. The Chinese drone maker said the move is to make sure that its products will not be used in combat.

DJI released a brief statement on its website earlier this week, saying it is assessing the compliance requirements in some regions. “Pending the current review, DJI will temporarily suspend all business activities in Russia and Ukraine,” the company said.

A more specific statement was later provided to Reuters on the motive for halting drone shipments to Russia and Ukraine. Since Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine in late February, hundreds of companies have pulled out and stopped operations in Russia as a protest. DJI maintained that suspending sales in Russia and Ukraine was not a statement about any country’s actions. Rather it was a statement about the company’s principles.

“DJI abhors any use of our drones to cause harm, and we are temporarily suspending sales in these countries in order to help ensure no-one uses our drones in combat,” a DJI spokesperson told Reuters.

On March 16, Ukraine vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov called out DJI in a Twitter post claiming that Russian troops were using DJI products for missile operations that killed 100 Ukrainian children. “@DJIGlobal are you sure you want to be a partner in these murders?” wrote Fedorov before telling the company to “block” its products from being used in the invasion of Ukraine.

In a formal letter addressed to DJI CEO Frank Wang, Fedorov requested data on DJI products being used in Ukraine and information on these products’ locations in the country. Fedorov also asked the company if there was an issue in activating new products in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian vice prime minister also asked the company to disable DJI’s AeroScop function and DJI products operating in Ukraine but was bought outside the country.

DJI later responded to Fedorov with a statement on Twitter, insisting that its drones are designed for consumer use. The drone maker also noted that AeroScope could not be turned off as it is built into its products and maintained that the company does not obtain flight data and user information. DJI also denied that there were changes in its sales and operations in Ukraine at the time.

Photo by Dexter Fernandes on Unsplash