U.S. calls reports Chinese men fighting for Russia in Ukraine ‘disturbing’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese men fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine, which the U.S. didn't confirm.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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, Zelenskyy 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, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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.

Writing on social media, Andriy Kovalenko, a member of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, called the captured fighters mercenaries but offered no other details.

Russia has used Iranian drones as well as North Korean missiles and artillery shells since its February 2022 invasion.

Kyiv also says Pyongyang’s troops have been deployed to fight Ukrainian forces in parts of Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine staged a lightning incursion last summer.