Two Chinese soldiers have been captured inside Ukraine fighting alongside Vladimir Putin’s forces, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday as he claimed there are “many more” among Russia’s ranks.
Ukrainian forces battled six Chinese citizens in the eastern Donetsk region and took two prisoner, according to the Ukrainian president, who shared footage of one of the prisoners, who appeared with his hands zip-tied together.
Kyiv demanded an explanation from Beijing, summoning China’s charge d'affaires as foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the development “undermines Beijing's credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council”.
Mr Zelensky said the clash with the Chinese soldiers occurred near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka in Donetsk.
The involvement of Chinese troops appears to be the most significant participation of foreign fighters in Moscow’s war effort since 12,000 North Koreans assisted Russian troops in Kursk – where they recently reclaimed large areas of land from Ukraine.
But Mr Zelensky noted a “difference” between the two: "The North Koreans were fighting on the Kursk front against us. The Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine.”
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said the development required a response from the White House, from which Kyiv has repeatedly demanded a stronger stance against continued Russian aggression amid continuing efforts to achieve a ceasefire.
There has been no suggestion that China’s government was directly involved in sending troops to Ukraine, and Kyiv has yet to provide evidence of further Chinese citizens on its front lines.
UK defence intelligence officials also have no evidence the captured soldiers have links to the Chinese government, it is understood.
Defence analyst Francis Tusa suggested that if Chinese troops were being used, it could indicate Russian manpower problems, with Moscow throwing thousands of troops towards the eastern frontline each day, suffering significant personnel losses for relatively small territorial gains.
"It does raise the question of whether Russia has got problems with its troops,” he told The Independent. “They have only introduced very partial conscription and have tried to avoid making it Muscovites.
"It might be considered by Putin to be better to bring in Chinese mercenaries rather than his own people where there is a risk of potential rebellion and people saying no.
"However, that would be slightly high risk by Russia, as Trump does not like the Chinese."
John Lough, head of foreign policy at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre, believes troops may have been coerced to join Russian forces with the promise of a future in Moscow, after dozens of Indian men were sent to the front line under the same pretences last year.
“It is very hard to believe that the Chinese authorities would be in any way involved in this”, Mr Lough told The Independent, noting that Beijing has been “extremely careful to limit their involvement in this war”.
Mr Zelensky may be seeking a geopolitical advantage by suggesting Beijing might be behind the move, the experts said, with the president hoping to drive a wedge between the increasingly friendly regimes in Washington and Moscow.
Many figures in the Trump administration hold a particularly hostile stance towards China, with tensions between Beijing and Washington higher than ever as a tariff war rages on.
“I think the US needs to pay more attention to what's happening today," Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday. "We really hope that after this situation, Americans will talk more with Ukrainians, and then with Russians.”
It makes sense that Mr Zelensky would want to “play this up”, Mr Lough said, because he “knows there are people in the [Trump] administration who are very sensitive on China”.
Mr Tusa said the US president wants the war between Russia and Ukraine to end so he can focus on China.
"If China is providing troops to the Russians, Zelensky has a strong position: that the people Trump does not like are in bed with Putin, so cut him some slack,” he said.
China has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has offered an economic lifeline through the trade in energy and consumer goods.
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