Ukraine Detains Two Chinese Fighters Serving in Russian Military; Zelensky Warns of Broader Involvement as US-China Tensions Rise

The Chinese nationals were captured in the eastern Donetsk region and were being held by Ukraine’s security service, Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram, without providing evidence. He added that intelligence indicated that there were “significantly more Chinese citizens in the units of the occupier than two.” If the identities of the captured individuals and the existence of more are confirmed, it would suggest that a third nation, after North Korea, has begun sending military personnel to aid the Kremlin’s effort in its three-year-long invasion of Ukraine. That, at a time when the United States — Ukraine’s largest military backer — is attempting to broker peace between Kyiv and Moscow and wind down its financial involvement in the war, while also escalating an increasingly vicious trade war with Beijing.

Ukrainian troops have captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting in the ranks of the Russian military against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 8. "We have information that there are much more than two such Chinese citizens in the occupier's units," Zelensky said. "We have the documents of these prisoners, bank cards, personal data." Ukrainian troops clashed with six Chinese soldiers near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka in Donetsk Oblast, according to the president.

Zelensky instructed his foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, to contact Beijing 'and find out how China is going to react to this'. Sybiha said that Ukraine had summoned China's charge d'affaires after Kyiv to the Foreign Ministry to demand an explanation. In a damning admission, he added that the presence of Chinese nationals fighting for Russia 'puts into question China's declared stance for peace'. Zelensky said that the prisoners were currently in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine. 'Relevant investigative and operational actions are underway.' The Ukrainian president pointed to the presence of Chinese soldiers on the battlefield as evidence 'Putin is going to do anything, except end the war'. 'He is looking for a way to continue fighting,' he said, calling on the U.S. and Europe to 'react'. The use of Chinese soldiers to bolster Russia's war effort could threaten to upend the delicate status quo. Beijing proclaims to be neutral, but maintains close economic and political ties with Moscow. NATO members have branded Beijing a 'decisive enabler' of Moscow's invasion, which it has never condemned.