Reuters. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday (April 8) that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese men fighting on Russia's side in eastern Ukraine, potentially threatening a fragile peace effort in the three-year-old war.
Beijing is a close ally of Moscow but is not publicly known to have directly aided the war in Ukraine.
Writing on X, where he posted a video of one of the men, Zelenskiy said Kyiv has "information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier's units" and that he ordered officials to obtain a response from Beijing.
It was not immediately clear whether the captured men were regular soldiers. There was no immediate public comment from Beijing on the matter.
"Russia's involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war," Zelenskiy wrote.
Zelenskiy said the captured men had documents confirming their identification, added that Ukrainian intelligence and security officials were currently "verifying all the facts."
Speaking alongside Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said his government had decided to grant Ukraine a new bilateral aid package of one billion euros ($1.10 billion) in 2025, adding that he had the ambition to deliver the war-torn country at least that same amount every year during his term.
De Wever also said Belgium would make good on its pledge to deliver all the fighter planes that it had promised Ukraine.
