Zelenskyy states Chinese manufactures drones in Russian factories, awaiting Beijing's response
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (photo: Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine has evidence of Chinese citizens working at factories in Russia that produce strike drones. These UAVs are later used by the Russian military to shell Ukraine, according to the second part of Zelenskyy's interview with Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro.
The Ukrainian leader noted that despite the recent capture of Chinese citizens who were involved in the war on the side of Russia, official Beijing has assured that there is no evidence that China is in any way participating in these military operations.
At the same time, Zelenskyy stated that he still has questions about the matter.
"We have information that China is working. The Chinese are working on Russian factories, and they're producing drones, the drones that are used for killing Ukrainians. We have evidence, we have facts," he said.
The president expects the Chinese side to respond to this situation and noted that Ukraine can show Beijing this information.
"We have all this information, we can show this information, we have all of that. Now tell me if China if the leadership of China is unaware of this, for example, and the citizens of China, the technical workers are working in Russia and producing the drones. And these drones are killing us, Ukrainians. Now, if the Chinese leadership is unaware that the citizens of China and we took some of them as prisoners of war, they're fighting with their weapons, they're killing us, then tell me, wouldn't that be a sort of justification for this situation?" Zelenskyy said.
The president added that indirect data could point to the validity of claims that China is indeed supporting Russia.
"I think that we are saying in a fair way cuz the Chinese are not working in our factories. They're not producing the weapons that we're using to defend against the Russians. The Chinese are not fighting alongside our men and weapons in the armed forces of Ukraine. So maybe the leadership is unaware, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be responding to that," Zelenskyy voiced his opinion.
Zelenskyy believes that Beijing needs to respond to this, as this whole situation... somehow involves or draws you into a situation where there is this alliance with Russia.
Chinese support for Russia in the war against Ukraine
Despite strong trade ties between Russia and China, official Beijing has repeatedly denied supplying weapons to any side. The Chinese side has also assured that it is not involved in Russia's war against Ukraine.
At the same time, there has been significant evidence that China is helping Russia bypass Western sanctions, which, in particular, allows the Kremlin to sustain its war machine.
In particular, in September 2024, it was reported that the West had evidence that Chinese companies were secretly supplying weapons to Russia. This could mark a significant escalation in China's involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukraine's Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, told Reuters that about 60% of foreign components found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine come from China.
On April 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting on the side of Russia. At that time, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Beijing was clarifying the situation with Ukraine.
Later, the Ukrainian president also revealed that the country was aware of over 150 Chinese nationals participating in the war on the side of Russia. Additionally, RBC-Ukraine published documents showing that Chinese military personnel were fighting on the Russian side against Ukraine.
Furthermore, recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed that China was supplying weapons to Russia, including gunpowder and artillery.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded to the Ukrainian president's statement, claiming that this information was allegedly false.
On April 22, during a press conference, President Zelenskyy stated that Russia might have stolen Chinese drone technology. He also added that the Security Service of Ukraine would provide China with relevant information.
In recent days, Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine, Ma Shengkun, visited the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the newly discovered facts of Chinese citizens' involvement in the war on Russia's side, as well as Chinese companies' participation in weapons production in the Russia.
On April 23, in response to the Chinese ambassador being summoned to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs over China's assistance to Russia in the war, Beijing called these accusations groundless.
