A Chinese recruit can earn 1800 to 2700 euros a month in the Russian army, which is more than the average salary in China, and Wang claims that the recruiter promised to pay for his trip to Russia and help him get the necessary documents. But that didn’t happen, he said. Later, he said, the Russians took his bank card and phone, leaving Wang unable to manage the money he was earning.
In an unexpected twist in the war in Ukraine, two new faces emerged before the media in Kiev – not Ukrainian, not Russian, but Chinese soldiers. Captured on the eastern front while fighting alongside Russian troops, their testimonies were shocking not only for their content but for the unusual path that brought them from China to the heart of a war that was not theirs. From false promises of high salaries to the alleged use of chemical weapons by their former allies, their accounts shed new light on the increasingly international dimension of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
SOLDIERS FROM CHINA
One of the captives, Wang Guangjun, who was targeted by Russian “chemical weapons” shortly after being captured by a Ukrainian soldier, told reporters at a press conference in Kiev on April 14 that “I was losing strength and fainted… Then I felt someone grab my collar and pull me into the fresh air.” According to Wang, after being captured by Ukrainian soldiers, he found himself in a trench with a Ukrainian soldier who was hiding from the Russian attack. He said the Ukrainian helped him survive what Wang described as a “spray gas” attack. “The Ukrainian soldiers have protected us and treated us well all this time,” he added. Wang Guangjun and Zhang Renbo, born in 1991 and 1998, were the first Chinese citizens captured while fighting in the ranks of the Russian army against Ukraine, on Ukrainian soil.
Wang said he saw an advertisement in China to join the Russian army. After losing his job last summer, he was intrigued by the offer, especially since, he said, military service in China is considered “prestigious.” A Chinese recruit can earn 1800 to 2700 euros a month in the Russian army, which is more than the average salary in China, and Wang claims the recruiter promised to pay for his trip to Russia and help him get the necessary documents. But that didn’t happen, he said. Later, he said, the Russians took his bank card and phone, leaving Wang unable to manage the money he was earning.
RELATIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT
Another captured soldier, Zhang, said he came from a wealthy family and worked as a firefighter and rescue worker. He said he arrived in Russia in December and was initially offered a job in construction before being eventually called up for military service. Neither soldier said where they were from in China. They claimed they had no connection to the Chinese government and signed the contract with the Russian military of their own free will. Their route took them through Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and Donetsk in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine before reaching the battlefield. According to Wang, he was also placed in a camp in Kazan with people of other nationalities, possibly from Central Asia, Ghana and Iraq.
RUSSIAN RECRUITMENTS
Russia has recruited foreign fighters from several countries, including India, Nepal and Syria, to fight against Ukraine. Moscow has also used about 12,000 North Korean troops sent by Pyongyang to counter Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk Region. The Chinese prisoners said they were subordinate to Russian commanders, who relied on gestures to give orders. Wang said it would be difficult to escape after being registered, as control at the training ground was very strict.
Wang also claims that he did not kill a single Ukrainian soldier. He also claims to have spent only three days on the battlefield when he was captured. Zhang said that he had not seen any Ukrainian soldiers until the moment he was captured. The sincerity of their claims cannot be verified because they were in Ukrainian captivity when they made the statements. . According to Zhang, Chinese who fight in any country can be punished under Chinese law. Despite this, both men reiterated that they wanted to return to China, not Russia, as part of a future prisoner exchange.
