Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has alleged that at least 155 Chinese nationals are currently fighting alongside Russian forces in the ongoing conflict, accusing Beijing of “turning a blind eye” to their involvement.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Zelenskyy emphasized that while he couldn’t confirm whether the Chinese government directly ordered the participation, Ukraine’s records showed that Chinese citizens were actively taking up arms against Ukrainian forces.
“We record that they [China] knew about it,” Zelenskyy said. “We record that these are Chinese citizens, they are fighting against us, using weapons against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine. Their motivation, money or not, politics, etcetera, is not yet known to me. But it will be known.”
Earlier this week, Ukrainian authorities released two dossiers identifying several Chinese nationals, including photographs, who have allegedly signed up to fight for Russia. However, Kyiv stopped short of accusing Beijing of officially supporting the war.
Zelenskyy also stated he was unaware if China “gave some kind of command” to those individuals, but insisted that their participation and recruitment could not have gone unnoticed by Beijing.
