Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says at least 155 Chinese citizens are fighting for Russia in the war.<\/p>\n
His comments come after two Chinese fighters were captured earlier this week \u2013 marking Kyiv\u2019s first official allegation that China was supplying Russia with manpower.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Zelensky reiterated his claim that there are \u201cmany more\u201d Chinese nationals engaged in the conflict, based on information gathered by his government.<\/p>\n
China has previously denied many of its citizens are fighting for Russia, saying the claim has \u201cno basis in facts\u201d. Beijing has yet to respond to Zelensky\u2019s latest figure.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, China\u2019s foreign ministry\u2019s spokesman Lin Jian said they were still \u201cverifying the relevant situation with Ukraine\u201d and appeared to suggest that the Chinese soldiers were operating in a private capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me stress that the Chinese government always asks Chinese nationals to stay away from areas of armed conflict, avoid any form of involvement in armed conflict, and in particular avoid participation in any party\u2019s military operations,\u201d said Lin Jian.<\/p>\n
He also urged Ukraine to \u201cview correctly China\u2019s effort and constructive role for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hours later, Zelensky doubled down on his claims, saying \u201cthe Chinese issue is serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 155 people with surnames, with passport data \u2013 155 Chinese citizens who are fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine,\u201d he said, according to remarks reported by Interfax.<\/p>\n
He added that Russia was recruiting Chinese citizens on social media, and that \u201cofficial Beijing knows about this\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to Zelensky, the alleged recruits receive training in Moscow before being sent out to the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as migration documents and payment.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, he said his forces had fought six Chinese soldiers in Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk region and took two prisoner. Russia declined to comment on this revelation.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian leader said that \u201cRussia\u2019s involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war\u201d.<\/p>\n
The US has called the reports \u201cdisturbing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has in the past questioned China\u2019s declared neutral stance. Zelensky previously alleged that Beijing supplies \u201celements that are part of Russia\u2019s weaponry\u201d and called for the country to maintain a \u201cconsistent\u201d position.<\/p>\n
China has been accused by the US of helping Russia make more munitions, armoured vehicles and missiles. It has also been scrutinised for allowing dual-use technology that can be used both commercially and militarily \u2013 such as computer chips and drones \u2013 to be exported to Russia.<\/p>\n
While Beijing and Moscow are close political and economic allies, China has attempted to present itself as a neutral party in the conflict and has repeatedly denied supplying Russia with military equipment.<\/p>\n
It defends its trade with Moscow by saying it is not selling lethal arms and \u201cprudently handles the export of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations\u201d.<\/p>\n
The allegations about Chinese soldiers fighting for Russia follows Ukraine\u2019s capture of two injured North Korean soldiers in Russia\u2019s Kursk Oblast.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says at least 155 Chinese citizens are fighting for Russia in the war. His comments come after two Chinese fighters were captured earlier this week \u2013 marking Kyiv\u2019s first official allegation that China was supplying Russia with manpower. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Zelensky reiterated his claim that there are \u201cmany […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}