Ukrainian forces have captured two Chinese nationals fighting with the Russian army in the eastern Donetsk region, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president said they were two of many more Chinese members of the Russian armed forces, and he accused the Kremlin of trying to involve Beijing in the conflict “directly or indirectly”.
Zelenskyy said he would ask his foreign minister “to immediately contact Beijing and clarify how China intends to respond to this”, though it was not clear if the captured soldiers had been sent at the behest of their government or were individuals who had chosen for themselves to sign up.
A few hundred Chinese nationals are thought to have travelled to fight as mercenaries with the Russian army alongside others from Nepal and central Asian countries. Their status appears to be different to that of the 11,000 soldiers from North Korea who were deployed on the frontline after a political agreement between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Zelenskyy said identity documents, bank cards and personal data were found in the possession of the two men captured, and that his country’s domestic security agency, the SBU, was “verifying all the facts”.
He argued that the capture of the two men indicated that Russia had no interest in agreeing to a ceasefire in US-brokered peace negotiations, which have made only limited progress over the past two months.
“Russia’s involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war. He is looking for ways to continue fighting,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
He said the development “definitely requires a response” from the US, Europe and “all those around the world who want peace”. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow or Beijing.
Below his post on X, Zelenskyy released a short video apparently showing a captured soldier, his hands tied, speaking in Mandarin. Prisoners of war are protected from public curiosity according to the Geneva conventions and should not have their images published online.
China says it is a neutral party in the conflict. Russia makes heavy use of Chinese-made components in its arms industry, and Ukraine does so to some extent. Both sides make significant use of Mavic drones from the Chinese manufacturer DJI, though Kyiv is trying to reduce its dependence on products from Beijing.
Western sources said it was early to reach definitive conclusions about the captured individuals. But one official said that so far “we’re not seeing evidence of state sponsorship here”, indicating an initial belief that the captured soldiers had acted on their own initiative.
Individuals from about 70 countries, including the US, UK and other European countries, have fought with Ukraine’s military. Some units, such as the Azov brigade, have actively sought to recruit foreigners to bolster forces depleted after more than three years of war.
