Chinese Nationals Captured Fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Zelenskiy Says

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 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. It has not condemned the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion, which US President Donald Trump has said he wants to bring to a rapid end.

Writing on X on Tuesday, where he posted a video of one of the alleged men, Zelenskiy said Kyiv had “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.

China’s Foreign Ministry objected to Zelenskiy’s remarks that more Chinese citizens were at the frontline alongside Russians, calling them “groundless”.