KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine on Wednesday expanded on its claim that significant numbers of Chinese nationals are fighting for Russia\u2019s invading army, saying it had gathered detailed intelligence on more than 150 mercenaries Moscow allegedly recruited through social media. In China, officials called the allegations \u201ctotally unfounded.\u201d
\nThe Ukrainian accusation and Chinese denial come as the US strives to secure a ceasefire in the more than three-year war.
\nPresident Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday that the Ukrainian military had captured two Chinese men fighting alongside the Russian army on Ukrainian soil. It was the first time Ukraine had made such a claim about Chinese fighters in the war.
\nOn Wednesday, Zelensky said he was willing to exchange the two prisoners of war for Ukrainian soldiers held captive in Russia. Without providing evidence, Zelensky said officials in Beijing were aware of Russia\u2019s campaign to recruit Chinese mercenaries. He stopped short of saying the Chinese government authorized the mercenaries\u2019 involvement in Ukraine.
\nZelensky said Ukraine has the last names and passport data for 155 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian army and that \u201cwe believe that there are many more of them.\u201d He shared with journalists documents listing names, passport numbers and personal details of the alleged Chinese recruits, including when they arrived in Russia for military training and departed for service; the AP has not independently verified the documents.
\nChina has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has also sold Russia machinery and microelectronics that it can use to make weapons, Western officials say, in addition to providing an economic lifeline through the trade in energy and consumer goods.
\nChina is not believed to have knowingly provided Russia with troops, weapons or military expertise.
\nUS officials have accused Iran of providing Russia with drones, while American and South Korean officials say North Korea has sent thousands of troops and ammunition to help Russia on the battlefield.
\nWith the US and Europe having provided substantial military support and diplomatic heft for Ukraine, the war has to some degree become a contest between power blocs.
\nTensions between the US and China have deepened in recent years. Disputes have centered on geopolitical influence, technology and trade \u2014 and recently escalating import tariffs between the countries have roiled global financial markets. Zelensky said US officials expressed \u201csurprise\u201d when informed of the presence of Chinese mercenaries in Ukraine.
\nUS President Donald Trump is trying to follow through on a campaign promise last year to swiftly end the war in Ukraine.
\nUS State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said at a briefing in Washington on Tuesday that reports of Chinese citizens fighting on behalf of Russia were \u201cdisturbing.\u201d
\n\u201cChina is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine,\u201d Bruce said. China provides nearly 80 percent of the dual-use items Russia needs to sustain the war, she claimed.
\nBut Keith Kellogg, Trump\u2019s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said he is \u201cnot convinced yet\u201d the Chinese personnel identified as fighting on behalf of Russia against Ukraine are more than mercenaries or volunteers.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s an axiom in the military, the first report is always wrong,\u201d Kellogg said during a Wednesday appearance at Georgetown University. \u201cAnd this is one of those let\u2019s sit back and see how this plays out, because it could be volunteers.\u201d
\nKellogg noted that Ukraine also has volunteers from other countries, including the United States, fighting on its behalf. He added that the early reports of Chinese personnel are not on par with North Korea\u2019s deployment of thousands of troops to the frontlines.
\nThe European Union\u2019s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, also called Beijing \u201cthe key enabler of Russia\u2019s war.\u201d
\nDual-use goods are entering Russia via China, she said in Brussels, adding \u201cit\u2019s clear that if China would want to really stop the support then it would have an impact.\u201d
\nChina has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for the war, according to a US assessment last year.
\nThe Kremlin has effectively rejected a US proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting in Ukraine. The Kyiv government has consented to it. Both sides are believed to be readying spring-summer military campaigns.
\nChinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in Beijing that China has played a \u201cconstructive role in politically resolving the Ukraine crisis.\u201d
\nLin told a daily news briefing Wednesday that \u201cthe Chinese government always asks Chinese citizens to stay away from conflict zones, avoid getting involved in any form of armed conflict, and especially refrain from participating in any party\u2019s military operations.\u201d
\nHis comments appeared to indicate that the captured Chinese had joined Russia\u2019s ranks on their own initiative. Both Russia and Ukraine allow foreign soldiers to enlist.
\nChina has previously put forward a vague peace plan that was swiftly dismissed by most observers.
\nIn the meantime, both countries have kept fighting a war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and targeted each other with long-range strikes.
\nThe city of Kramatorsk in Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk endured a \u201cmassive drone attack\u201d overnight, regional head Vadym Filashkin said, injuring an 11-year-old girl, her mother and her grandmother.
\nUkraine\u2019s air force said Russia launched 55 Shahed and decoy drones at the country overnight.
\nThe Russian Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 158 Ukrainian drones over 11 Russian regions overnight but reported no casualties or damage.
\nSeveral Russian regions temporarily suspended flights at their airports because of the attack, however, and some Ukrainian drones reached Russia\u2019s Orenburg region in the southern Urals located nearly 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, the Defense Ministry said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine on Wednesday expanded on its claim that significant numbers of Chinese nationals are fighting for Russia\u2019s invading army, saying it had gathered detailed intelligence on more than 150 mercenaries Moscow allegedly recruited through social media. In China, officials called the allegations \u201ctotally unfounded.\u201d The Ukrainian accusation and Chinese denial come as the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":79439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79440,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79425\/revisions\/79440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}