More than 150 Chinese citizens are fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed, calling their involvement a serious escalation and urging the United States and its allies to respond decisively.
“This must be met with a firm and principled response,” he said. If China is knowingly allowing its citizens to fight for Russia, Zelensky noted, it would become the second nation after North Korea to contribute military personnel to Russia’s war effort, now entering its third year.
He made the claim Wednesday night during his regular address, as Russian forces continue to build along the Ukrainian border. The announcement came as Ukraine’s top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, confirmed that a new Russian offensive is underway. Syrskyi reported intensified attacks “in all main directions,” particularly in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions in the east.
Zelensky also said that two Chinese fighters were recently captured by Ukrainian forces, and accused Russia of using social media to recruit Chinese soldiers. According to him, the 155 Chinese individuals identified had arrived in Moscow, gone through medical checks over four days, and spent two months training before being deployed. He did not say when the troops arrived.
South Korea estimates that 11,000 North Korean soldiers have already joined Russian forces, but the prospect of China—the world’s second-largest economy—taking part in a war against a U.S. and European ally, unlike isolated and impoverished North Korea, would be geopolitically seismic.
