According to Ukrainian intelligence documents, at least 155 Chinese citizens have been serving in Russia's armed forces since early April, the Kyiv Independent reported.

"There are 155 Chinese citizens fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"We are gathering information, we think they are much more. There are passport data for these 155 people, where they are from, their Chinese documents, age, etc.," Zelensky added.

According to him, the Chinese soldiers served in the Russian 70th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, 255th Rifle Division and others.

A day earlier, the Ukrainian leader announced the capture of two Chinese citizens fighting for Russia in the eastern Donetsk region. The group of six Chinese nationals clashed with Ukrainian forces, and two of them are currently being detained by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

The documents list the names, personal details, place of service and position in the Russian army of other Chinese citizens. The materials also include photographs of some of them.

The captured Chinese soldiers were identified as Wang Guangjun and Zhang Renbo, born in 1991 and 1998, respectively. 

Guanzhong was captured near Belogorivka, Donetsk region, and Renbo near Tarasivka, further south.

One of the captured soldiers allegedly paid 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,000) to an intermediary in China to join the Russian army in exchange for a promise of citizenship.

"Beijing knows about this. The Russians are distributing recruitment videos through Chinese social networks," Zelensky said.

After the capture, Zelensky instructed Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha to contact Beijing. Ukraine summoned China's chargé d'affaires to demand an official explanation and express condemnation.

"For the record, these are Chinese citizens, they are fighting against us, they are using weapons against Ukrainians on Ukrainian territory," the president said.

In response, Beijing said it was "verifying" the allegations, reiterating that Chinese citizens are prohibited from participating in foreign armed conflicts.

The Ukrainian president said the apparent presence of Chinese nationals in the ranks of the Russian army was further evidence that Moscow was not seeking peace and continued to receive support from countries such as China, Iran and North Korea.

The U.S. State Department called the incident "disturbing," adding that it was monitoring the situation closely. "We are aware of these reports," spokeswoman Tami Bruce said on April 8. | BGNES