President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese men fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine, potentially threatening a fragile peace effort in the three-year-old war.
Beijing is a close diplomatic ally of Moscow but is not publicly known to have directly aided in the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion, which U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to swiftly end.
Writing on X, where he posted a video of one of the alleged men, Zelenskiy said Kyiv has “information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens” fighting. He did not say whether Ukraine believed the men were acting on Beijing’s orders.
“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 wrote.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on what would be the first publicly announced case of Chinese nationals captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
Source: Reuters
