Two Chinese citizens captured fighting against Ukraine said they were “fed lies” by Russia and that Vladimir Putin’s forces were not as strong as they claimed.
Wang Guanjung and Zhang Renbo were captured fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine earlier this month.
Handcuffed and wearing military fatigues at a briefing organised by Ukrinform, the Ukrainian national news agency, the pair said: “All Russia fed us are lies. They’re fake. Russia isn’t as strong as they claim, and Ukraine isn’t as backwards as they say.”
President Zelensky initially demanded that Beijing explain why Chinese soldiers, as he referred to them, were fighting for Russia.
The pair stressed, however, that they were not fighting on behalf of China and had no links to Chinese state authorities. Instead, they were recruited as mercenaries through online advertisements, they said.
Mr Wang said he was recruited through a TikTok advert. He told reporters he then travelled via coaches and minibuses to Kazan in south-west Russia, before moving through Rostov-on-Don before entering eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where he enlisted in the army with Mr Zhang.
Mr Zhang told reporters he was in Russia as a tourist when he spotted an advert with the offer of two million roubles (£18,400) and decided to enlist.
The pair were both captured in Donetsk, with footage of their detention released on April 8.
Both prisoners said they were taken captive immediately after arriving on the front line and had not killed any Ukrainian troops.
Mr Zelensky said last week that there were at least 155 Chinese nationals fighting for Russia in the war, a claim Beijing has dismissed as “irresponsible”.
China denies significant numbers of its citizens are serving in the Russian armed forces, saying it advises nationals to “avoid participating in military operations of any party” and is a “staunch supporter” of peace in Ukraine.
The only example so far of a foreign country deploying soldiers to help Russia in its war effort is North Korea. However, those troops have not been allowed to fight inside Ukrainian territory.