Ukraine reveals fate of captured Chinese troops who fought for Russia
Photo: Chinese prisoners of war (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Two Chinese citizens who fought on the side of Russia and were taken prisoner last spring are still in Ukraine. Russia has shown no interest in them, according to Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
According to Okhrimenko, Russia has not inquired with Ukraine about any foreigners other than North Koreans. The two Chinese nationals are currently being held in a pretrial detention center run by the Security Service of Ukraine.
He explains that the two Chinese nationals were taken prisoner while fighting on the side of Russia, even though China is not officially a party to the conflict. Under the provisions of the Geneva Conventions, responsibility for such fighters lies with the state on whose side they fought.
"If China has criminal liability for mercenary activity, then its citizens who participated in an armed conflict on the side of a third state may be prosecuted upon their return. Were these people part of the Russian armed forces, were they on contract, or were they seconded? To answer this, we need to establish a body of evidence," says the head of the Coordination Staff Secretariat.
He does not rule out that these are individuals of Chinese origin with Russian citizenship, many of whom reside in certain regions of Russia.
"And since we know about Russia’s duplicity in all matters, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that these are Chinese nationals with Russian citizenship, of whom there are many in certain regions of Russia," Okhrimenko adds.
Chinese fighters taken prisoner
On April 8, 2025, Ukrainian troops captured Chinese soldiers in the Donetsk region. Six Chinese citizens, who were fighting on the Russian side, engaged in combat against the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the towns of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka. Two of them were taken prisoner.
On April 9, 2025, Beijing issued its first response to the capture of its citizens on the front lines in Ukraine. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukrainian intelligence had information on more than 150 Chinese nationals fighting on the side of Russia, but that the number could be higher.
Subsequently, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a new statement regarding the capture of their citizens by Ukrainian troops on the front lines in Ukraine.
