President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukrainian intelligence has information about 155 Chinese nationals fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine, and that the real number is likely to be much higher.

Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday that Russia was recruiting Chinese citizens via social media and that Chinese officials were aware of the efforts. He added that Ukraine was trying to assess whether the recruits were receiving instructions from Beijing.

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“The ‘Chinese’ issue is serious. There are 155 people, with names and passport details, who are fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “We believe that there are many more of them.”

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian military had captured two Chinese men fighting alongside the Russian army on Ukrainian soil. It was the first time Ukraine had made such a claim about Chinese fighters in the war.

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he was willing to exchange the two prisoners of war for Ukrainian soldiers held captive in Russia.

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Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian told a news conference earlier on Wednesday that the suggestion that many Chinese citizens were fighting in Ukraine was “absolutely groundless”.

“The Chinese government has always asked its citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict [and] avoid involvement in armed conflicts in any form,” he said, adding that Beijing was verifying relevant information with Kyiv.

Russia has not commented on the matter.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the conflict and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

But Beijing has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022 and has also offered an economic lifeline through the trade in energy and consumer goods.

US officials have accused Iran of providing Russia with drones, while US and South Korean officials say North Korea has sent thousands of troops and ammunition to help Russia on the battlefield.

With the US and Europe having provided substantial military support and diplomatic heft for Ukraine, the war has, to some degree, become a contest between power blocs.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops had captured the two Chinese citizens fighting with Russian forces in the Donetsk region.

The media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing the Ukrainian army, reported that one of the captives had paid $3,480 to an intermediary in China to join the Russian army because he wanted to receive Russian citizenship.

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The captive, who is now cooperating with the Ukrainian authorities, also reportedly said he was trained in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region as part of a group of Chinese nationals, some of whom had legal issues back home, according to Ukrainska Pravda.