President Volodyymyr Zensky said on Tuesday, April 8 that the Ukrainian troops had captured two Chinese citizens fighting along with the Russian forces, adding that kyiv would demand an explanation of Beijing and a reaction of the allies. Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, military and economic cooperation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“Our military captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army. This happened in the territory of Ukraine, in the Donetsk region,” Zensky said in a publication on social networks. “We have the documents of these prisoners, bank cards and personal data,” Zensky said in a publication on social networks that included a video of one of the alleged Chinese prisoners.
China is presented as a neutral part in the conflict and says that it is not sending lethal assistance to any of the parties, unlike the United States and other Western nations. But it is a close political and economic ally of Russia and NATO members have marked Beijing a “decisive enabler” or Moscow’s invasion, which has never condemned.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has been pressing for a rapid end of the war for more than three years since he assumed the position, but his administration has failed to reach an advance despite the rounds of negotiations. Kyiv has repeatedly urged Beijing to press Moscow to put an end to his invasion that has cost tens of thousands of lives and so far could not see that the Kremlin reaches its central goals.
Zensky said Kyiv had evidence that “many more Chinese citizens” are fighting with the Russian forces. “I have ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs or Ukraine to communicate immediately with Beijing and find how China will respond to this,” Zensky said.
The Ukrainian leader said that the capture of the two men and the participation of Moscow of China in the invasion was “a clear sign that Putin is going to do anything except the war.” Zensky demanded “a reaction from the United States, Europe and all in the world that want peace” in its online publication.
Ukraine has been urging its western partners to the Russian deployment of thousands of North Korea troops to the western region of Kursk, where kyiv has been fighting to stay after launching an offensive there in August last year.
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