Captured Chinese soldiers warn: ‘Don’t take part in this war’

Chinese prisoners of war under armed guard Zhang Renbo (C) and Wang Guangjun (R) look on during a press conference in Kyiv on April 14, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  | Agence France-Presse

KYIV — Chinese prisoners of war under armed guard told journalists they hoped to be swapped and warned other Chinese nationals not to go to fight during a press conference on Monday.

The event came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of dragging Beijing into its invasion, saying Friday that several hundred Chinese nationals were fighting at the front line.

The Kremlin denied the claim, while Beijing warned parties to the conflict against making “irresponsible remarks”.

The two captured Chinese soldiers were then interviewed.

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Two Chinese men dressed in camouflage uniform were escorted into a Kyiv press centre in handcuffs and sat flanked by armed Ukrainian soldiers, with no way of telling whether they were expressing themselves of their own free will.

The two captured Chines soldiers, speaking Chinese, said they were captured fighting in the eastern Donetsk region after joining the army via online ads.

“I hope China can exchange me with Russia and Ukraine and bring me back to China,” said one of the men, 26-year-old Zhang Renbo.

The other, 33-year-old Wang Guangjun, said: “To my compatriots who want to join the Ukraine war, I want to say: don’t take part in this war”.

The soldier accused Russia of lying about its military strength and Ukraine’s weakness.

“When you really participate in the war, when the moment of the fighting comes, you will find that everything is a lie,” he said.

The war in Ukraine has been running for more than two years already and was started when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded its former ally.