An unnamed Chinese soldier captured by Ukraine. Photo: Security Service of Ukraine
At least 51 Chinese citizens signed up with the Russian Defence Ministry at a draft office in Moscow between June 2023 and May 2024, Russian independent outlet IStories revealed on Friday.
Most of the Chinese nationals had spent no more than two days in Russia before signing contracts with the army, the outlet wrote, suggesting they came to the country specifically to enlist in the military.
The youngest serviceman recruited in this period was 20 years old, while the oldest was 51, IStories said. While the fate of most Chinese soldiers who went to fight for Russia remains unknown, the outlet noted that at least one soldier — 38-year-old Zhao Rui — had been killed in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region in December 2023, just three months after enlisting.
Another soldier, 38-year-old Lin Pan, appeared in a video posted by a Russian pro-war channel in May 2024, with the caption saying he was “a former Chinese military police officer” who was injured near Bakhmut but returned to the front soon thereafter, fighting on despite only knowing two phrases in Russian — “I’m Russian” and “brother”.
Other servicemen also reported a lack of military equipment and medical aid on the frontline and complained the language barrier prevented them from understanding commands. “On the battlefield, you cannot trust anyone, even those on your side,” 41-year-old Li Jianwei said in a YouTube interview. “In China, we don’t have this problem. Our Chinese servicemen are like brothers in life and death … But outside of China, you can only depend on yourself”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of recruiting Chinese citizens to serve in its military via TikTok and other social media on Wednesday, alleging that there were at least 155 Chinese nationals currently fighting with the Russian military in Ukraine.
The disclosure came a day after Zelensky revealed that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese citizens fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine in what he called a “clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war”.
Responding to those claims, Beijing denied providing troops to fight in Ukraine, stressing that it always advised Chinese nationals to avoid “any form of involvement” in foreign conflicts.
