At least 51 Chinese citizens signed up for contract military service with the Russian military through a Moscow recruitment center between June 2023 and May 2024, Russian investigative outlet Important Stories reported on April 11.
The revelations come just days after the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced the capture of two Chinese fighters near the Ukrainian villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka.
A Ukrainian intelligence document obtained by the Kyiv Independent estimates that at least 163 Chinese nationals currently serve in Russia's Armed Forces.
The Important Stories investigation, based on leaked data from Russian border and recruitment services, found that many of the Chinese nationals flew to Moscow just days before presenting themselves at the selection point.
At least seven arrived on the same day, while four returned to China shortly after the visit.
Chinese nationals arrived nearly every month to join the ranks, with the highest number — eight individuals — recorded in July 2023. The media outlet found that 31 Chinese citizens signed up in 2023 and another 20 in the first five months of 2024.
The youngest recruit was 20, while the oldest was 51. Some traveled in pairs, such as 38-year-old Mingliang Wang and 43-year-old Daocheng Li, who landed in Moscow together and visited the recruitment center two days later.
Several recruits have returned home, while others were reportedly wounded in combat. Kyiv believes the number of Chinese nationals fighting for Russia is significantly higher.
One of the prisoners recently captured by Ukraine reportedly said that he paid 300,000 rubles (about $3,500) to a Chinese intermediary for help enlisting in the Russian army in exchange for a promise of Russian citizenship.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 8 that these cases point to a "systemic" effort by Moscow to recruit Chinese nationals.
Beijing has denied any direct involvement in the war and said it has appealed to its citizens to stay away from armed conflicts.
China, which has claimed to be a neutral party in the war, has become Russia's leading supplier of dual-use components essential for weapons production and a key economic partner.
Russia has enlisted foreign fighters from multiple countries, including India, Nepal, and Syria, to fight in its army against Ukraine. Moscow has also used some 12,000 North Korean army troops dispatched by Pyongyang to counter the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast.
Anastassia Fedyk
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