Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky releases new video of Chinese soldiers and says Beijing turning blind eye
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says his country has intelligence there are at least 155 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky claimed that Russia was recruiting Chinese citizens via social media and that Chinese officials were aware of that.
He added that Ukraine was trying to assess whether the recruits were receiving instructions from Beijing.
Zelensky said Ukraine has the last names and passport data for 155 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian army and that “we believe that there are many more of them.”
He shared with journalists documents listing names, passport numbers and personal details of the alleged Chinese recruits, including when they arrived in Russia for military training and departed for service. The documents have not been independently verified.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said earlier China was verifying the situation with Ukraine, adding that its government had always required its citizens to avoid areas of armed conflict and “especially to avoid participating in the military operations of any party”.
However, spokesperson Lin Jian rubbished Mr Zelensky’s claim there were “many more” Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russians against Ukraine after the latter released a video of a Chinese soldier taken by Ukrainian forces, one of two Chinese nationals he said were captured fighting for Putin.
Kyiv demanded an explanation from Beijing following the revelation, 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”.
