Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Beijing knows Russia is recruiting its citizens to fight in Ukraine, claiming Kyiv had the details of at least 155 Chinese nationals who had been deployed to the front. The claim came hours after Beijing rejected the idea that Chinese citizens had been recruited in big numbers to fight with Russia, and it warned its citizens to "avoid involvement in armed conflicts."
Zelensky, a day earlier, said Ukraine's army had captured two Chinese citizens caught fighting for Russia in the eastern Donetsk region. He published a video of one of them, wearing military fatigues and with hands bound, who was mimicking combat sounds and uttering several words in Mandarin.
"The 'Chinese' issue is serious. There are 155 people with names and passport details who are fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. A document shared with Agence France-Presse by a senior Ukrainian official contained the alleged names and passport details of 168 Chinese citizens that Kyiv said had been recruited by Russia's army, according to its intelligence.
Zelensky said he believed there were "many more" and that further information was being gathered. "It is clear how they recruit them. One of the schemes is through social media, in particular TikTok and other Chinese social networks, where Russians distribute commercials," Zelensky said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian had earlier rejected Zelensky's claim that "many" Chinese citizens had been recruited by Russia to fight as "absolutely groundless." "The Chinese government has always asked its citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict (and) avoid involvement in armed conflicts in any form," he said.
He added that Beijing was verifying relevant information about the captured Chinese citizens with Kyiv. Asked about Zelensky's claims in a daily press briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the three-year war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations. But it is a close political and economic partner of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a "decisive enabler" of Moscow's offensive, which it has never condemned.