evidence: This knowledge made Mr. Putin more amenable to serious concessions to China. His state visit to Beijing and the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in May 2024 included repeated expressions of approval for an expanded Chinese role in developing the Far East. That same month, the appointment of economist Andrey Belousov as defense minister highlighted Mr. Putin’s new appreciation that the war in Ukraine could only be won by prioritizing economic and industrial policy. [...] Chinese investment interests are focused on two key areas. One is the junction of the Amur (Heilongjiang) and Ussuri rivers, where Bolshoy Ussuriysky (Heixiazi) Island and the Russian city of Khabarovsk (with its population of 620,000) are located. The other is near the mouth of the Tumen River, not far from Russia’s great Pacific port of Vladivostok (population 600,000), where the Chinese border lies just 15 kilometers away from the Sea of Japan. In both of these strategic locations, Russia intends to harness China’s financial resources and manufacturing savvy to build two gigantic special economic zones. [...] Even for goods not produced in Russia, the growing number and efficiency of border crossing points and customs clearance procedures is speeding up the delivery of inputs needed for war production. Currently, 19 border crossing points are operating in Heilongjiang province alone, and they are being systematically modernized. In short, Russia is building up the logistical infrastructure its industry needs to sustain a long-term war.