Latest news with #WangGuangjun
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A Chinese man who said he fought for Russia said he couldn't even go to the bathroom without an armed escort
Two Chinese prisoners of war spoke to the press on Monday, describing life under Russian forces. Both Chinese men said they were duped into becoming frontline soldiers for Russia. One of them said it was impossible to escape because he was constantly being watched. A Chinese man who said he was tricked into fighting for Russia's military told reporters on Monday that he was guarded so closely he couldn't go to the bathroom alone. Identified by Ukraine as 34-year-old Wang Guangjun, the man said at a Kyiv press conference that he had entered Russia believing he would be a rehabilitation therapist for Moscow's troops, only to discover he was being deployed on the front lines. Ukraine said on Wednesday that Wang and another Chinese man, 27-year-old Zhang Renbao, were captured in Donetsk. Business Insider could not independently verify statements from the prisoners of war. Both men said they were speaking to the press in hopes that China would notice their situation and negotiate for their release. They also denied fighting against Ukraine voluntarily. Wang described himself as being trapped after reporting for work in Moscow in early 2025, after which he was sent for a few days of training and later to Ukraine's front lines. "Escape is impossible. Because from the moment you enter the training camp, if you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, there will be a guard with a loaded gun following you," said Wang. "And during training, your commander will keep a close eye on you. You have totally no opportunity to escape. Anyway, Russia is filled with military police, even if you try to run, there is nowhere to go," he added. Zhang — who said he was previously a rescue worker and firefighter in Shanghai — and Wang told Ukrainian and international reporters that they were promised monthly salaries of up to 280,000 rubles, or about $3,400. But they said they were often left in the dark and couldn't communicate well with their Russian-speaking officers. Wang added that he surrendered his mobile phone and was unsure if he was paid at all. "I can very honestly tell everyone that I absolutely don't know the specifics," Wang said. "Because everything that involved us was kept secret." Russia's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by BI. Wang said he was deployed on April 1 in Donetsk with a unit that went by the "7th" — which could be a reference to Russia's 7th Motorized Rifle Brigade. The Chinese man said he could only communicate with his commanders via sounds and hand gestures. He told reporters that on April 4, he and several soldiers were sent to advance on the front lines in northern Donetsk. Wang said that as they neared their destination, a Russian soldier called his name and mimicked the sound of a gun firing, urging him to begin attacking. "On the way there, we had gone through many Russian bunkers, so I thought we had arrived at our own friendly position. I thought he was joking," he said. "So I hid to one side." Wang then said that the "sky was filled with countless drones" that killed several of his comrades. The survivors soon surrendered to Ukrainian forces, he added. Meanwhile, Zhang said he arrived in Moscow as a tourist in December and, after seeking work there, was eventually shipped to Donetsk for a month. He said he and a small Russian squad were sent in late March to advance on foot at the front lines, then spent hours hiding and trying to survive repeated drone attacks. "I just ran and ran and ran, until I eventually encountered Ukrainian soldiers," Zhang said. Ukraine says it has evidence that over 150 Chinese people are fighting for Russia, but added that there's no sign their presence is sanctioned by Beijing. On Friday, Reuters cited unnamed US officials saying that Washington believes most Chinese citizens fighting for Russia are mercenaries. China, meanwhile, said it has always told its citizens to stay away from the war. "We call on the relevant party to be correct and sober about China's role and refrain from making irresponsible remarks," a spokesperson for Beijing's foreign ministry said on Thursday. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Captured Chinese soldier said TikTok videos convinced him to join Russia's armed forces after he lost his job
Ukraine held a press conference with two Chinese prisoners of war on Monday. Wang Guangjun, 34, said he was drawn to Russia's military by promotional social media videos. Wang said he was told he'd care for injured soldiers, but was instead sent to fight in Donetsk. A Chinese prisoner in Ukraine said videos on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, enticed him to join Russia's military. The man, identified by Ukraine as 34-year-old Wang Guangjun, spoke to international and Ukrainian press in a two-hour press conference on Monday. He and another Chinese man described what they said was life in Russia's armed forces and their eventual journey to the front lines. Both men were captured in Donetsk, Ukraine said on Wednesday. Business Insider could not independently confirm the men's statements, though they are consistent with what can be observed on Chinese social media. Wang told the press in Mandarin that he was an "ordinary employee" in China who worked in rehabilitation therapy. "My family can be considered a rather harmonious one, with a wife, with kids, with parents," Wang said. "But because of China's pandemic issues, I lost my job. So I was looking for any kind of work; that's how I ended up in this situation." Wang said that while in China, he had watched "flashy and cool" videos on Douyin of Russian soldiers and weapons. "Because in China, the status and social identity of a Chinese soldier is very high, especially in the hearts of the public," Wang said. "So in China, every male has this dream of success." "When you are in China and have no chance of being a soldier, and you see this kind of opportunity, you feel a stirring of the heart," he added. "And I came from that kind of motivation." Bytedance, the firm that owns Douyin and TikTok, did not respond to a request for comment sent by BI. Wang said he had seen a video promoting a job in Russia's military that involved providing rehabilitation therapy to injured soldiers. "It said that due to Russia's last two years of fighting, there were a lot of injured people who needed us to administer rehabilitation therapy," he said. He added that the video promised that the role would not involve fighting against Ukraine. "When I arrived in Moscow and reported for work, they also told me the same. But after I followed them to the recruitment office and signed up, and then went to the training camp, I was no longer in control of my situation," he said. "At that point, I could no longer make my own decisions." Chinese social media platforms often feature pro-Russia videos — from Chechen special forces showing off captured NATO weapons to clips of young Russian soldiers labeled as "handsome big brothers." State media often emphasizes Moscow and Beijing's "no-limits" partnership. Still, Wang said Chinese authorities had warned him not to cross into Russia for the job, which he did anyway. He and the other Chinese prisoner, identified as 27-year-old Zhang Renbo, said they were not associated with any Chinese security or armed forces. Per Wang, he was given a few days of training in Moscow and then was sent in February to the Russian cities of Kazan and Rostov. He said he was eventually deployed to northern Donetsk on April 4, after which he was captured by Kyiv's forces. Meanwhile, Zhang told reporters that he worked as a firefighter in Shanghai and had traveled to Russia on vacation in December. Zhang said he had tried to "earn a bit of money" while on holiday and that he was offered work in construction, but later realized that the job instead was actually in the warzone. "The Chinese media and state media always emphasized our friendship with Russia, so we always have trusted them. Because of this trust, perhaps we have been taken advantage of," Zhang said. He said he was sent to Rostov in early January, where he received about six days of training, and was moved to Donetsk later. Zhang said he spent about a month in the trenches until March 31, after which he and two other soldiers were ordered to advance on the front lines and were captured. Both Wang and Zhang said they agreed to speak publicly in the hope that China would notice their imprisonment and negotiate their return. "If you are considering joining this war against Ukraine, to my fellow Chinese, do not participate in this fight," Wang said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that his government believes more than 150 Chinese citizens are fighting in Ukraine for the Russian military. "North Koreans were fighting against us in the Kursk region, while the Chinese were fighting against us in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said on April 8. Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, called Zelenskyy's remarks "irresponsible." "The Chinese government always asks Chinese nationals to stay away from areas of armed conflict, avoid any form of involvement in armed conflict, and in particular avoid participation in any party's military operations," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Everything we heard from Russians was a lie' — Chinese fighters captured by Ukraine speak out
The two Chinese nationals captured when fighting for Russia claimed they weren't sent to the war by the Chinese government, and described their hardships in the Russian ranks. One of the captives, Wang Guangjun, said he was targeted by Russian "chemical weapons" right after he was taken captive by a Ukrainian soldier, he told reporters at a press conference in Kyiv on April 14. "I was losing my strength and fainting... Then I felt someone grabbing my collar and pulling me out into the fresh air," Wang said. According to Wang, after he was captured by Ukrainian troops, he found himself in a dugout with a Ukrainian soldier, taking shelter during a Russian attack. He said that the Ukrainian helped him to survive what Wang described as a "spray gas" attack. "(Ukrainian) soldiers protected us and have been treating us well this whole time," he added. Wang Guangjun and Zhang Renbo, born in 1991 and 1998, were the first Chinese nationals to be captured while fighting in the Russian army ranks against Ukraine, on Ukrainian soil. Their capture was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier in April. On April 11, Zelensky said that at least "several hundred" Chinese citizens are fighting on Russia's side in Ukraine. Days later, the two were brought to a press conference. The two spoke Chinese. Their answers were translated into Ukrainian by a government provided translator. The Kyiv Independent could not verify their claims or the accuracy of the translation. Wang said he was in China, flipping through TikTok, when he saw an advertisement to join the Russian army. After losing his job last summer, he was interested in the offer, especially since, he said, military service is seen as "prestigious" in China. A recruiter Wang contacted told him that a Chinese recruit could earn 200,000 to 250,000 Russian rubles ($2,000-$3,000) per month in the Russian army, which is higher than the average salary in China. The recruiter also promised to cover his travel to Russia and help him obtain the necessary documents, according to Wang. But this failed to materialize, he said. Later, he said, Russians took away his bank card and phone, so that Wang couldn't manage the money he was making. The other captured soldier, Zhang, shared that he came from a wealthy family and worked as a firefighter and rescuer. He said he came to Russia in December, and first was offered a job in construction, but eventually was recruited for military service. "I wanted to make money, but I did not expect to end up in the war." None of the two soldiers mentioned where in China they were from. The two claimed they had no connection to the Chinese government and that they signed a contract with the Russian army of their own free will. Their routes passed through Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, and Russian-occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine before reaching the battlefield. According to Wang, he also was placed in the camp with people of other nationalities, presumably from Central Asia, Ghana, and Iraq. Read also: 'He wanted to live' — How Ukraine captured a North Korean POW, told by the soldiers who took part Russia has enlisted foreign fighters from multiple countries, including India, Nepal, and Syria, to fight against Ukraine. Moscow has also used some 12,000 North Korean troops dispatched by Pyongyang to counter the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast. The Chinese captives said they were subordinated to Russian commanders, who relied on gestures to give them orders. Wang said that it would have been difficult to escape once he enlisted, because the control at the training ground was very tight. Wang also claimed that he didn't kill any Ukrainian soldiers. He claimed he had spent only three days at the front line when he was captured. Zhang said he hadn't seen any Ukrainian soldiers until the moment he was captured. Both Chinese nationals criticized Russia at the press conference and discouraged their compatriots from going to war for it. It's not possible to verify the sincerity of their claims, as they were in Ukrainian captivity when making the statements. "For those (Chinese) citizens who want to take part in the war, we want to say that they should not do so," Wang said. "Since everything we heard from the Russians was a lie. It turned out that Russia is not that strong, and Ukraine is not that weak. That's why it's better not to participate in wars at all." Although China portrays itself as a neutral party, its neutrality has been thrown into question many times, including when it became the Kremlin's largest supplier of dual-use goods essential for weapons manufacturing. Asked if Beijing had known about their involvement in Russia's war, the two said that the government warned that Chinese citizens should not travel to places of hostilities. According to Zhang, the Chinese who fight in any country may face punishment under Chinese law. Despite this, both men reiterated that they wanted to return to China, not Russia, as part of the future prisoner exchange. "I understand that there may be punishment, and I am ready for it. But I still want to return home and to my family," Zhang said. "Real war is completely different from what we have seen in movies and on TV," said Wang. "I regret one thing — I want to apologize to my parents. And my only wish is to go back (to China) and follow all the instructions that will help me do that." Read also: All President's Men: Inside the closed world of Putin's key advisors We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Over 160 Chinese nationals fight for Russia in Ukraine, obtained documents show
At least 163 Chinese nationals are serving in Russia's Armed Forces as of early April, according to a Ukrainian intelligence document seen by the Kyiv Independent on April 9. Another document showed photos and passport details of 13 Chinese recruits who were being selected for service in the Russian army as of April 2. "There are 155 Chinese citizens who are fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine," President confirmed this information to journalists on April 9. "We are collecting information, we believe that there are many more." "For these 155 there is passport data, where they are from, their Chinese documents, age, etc," Zelensky added. According to Zelensky, Chinese soldiers had been serving with Russia's 70th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the 255th Rifle Division, and others. A day before, President announced the capture of fighting for Russia in eastern Donetsk Oblast. The group of six Chinese nationals clashed with Ukrainian forces, and two are now being held by the Security Service of Ukraine (), he said. The documents, obtained by the Kyiv Independent, list the names, personal data, place of service and position in the of other Chinese nationals. The materials also include photos of some of them. The captured Chinese soldiers have been identified as Wang Guangjun and Zhang Renbo, born in 1991 and 1998, respectively, a source told the Kyiv Independent. Guangjun was captured near Belogorivka, Donetsk Oblast, while Renbo was captured near Tarasivka, further south. One of the captured soldiers claimed he (roughly $3,000) to a middleman in China to join the Russian military in exchange for the promise of citizenship, Ukraine's Luhansk military unit press service told Ukrainian Pravda earlier in the day. "Beijing knows about this. Russians distribute advertising videos about recruitment through Chinese social networks," Zelensky said. Following the capture, Zelensky instructed Foreign Minister to contact Beijing. Ukraine summoned China's chargé d'affaires to demand an official explanation and express condemnation. "We record that these are Chinese citizens, they are fighting against us, using weapons against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine," the president said. Beijing by saying it was "verifying" the claims, reiterating that Chinese citizens are prohibited from participating in foreign armed conflicts. Zelensky said the apparent presence of Chinese nationals in the ranks of the Russian military is further proof that Moscow is not seeking peace and continues to draw support from countries like China, , and . The U.S. State Department called the incident "," adding that it is closely monitoring the situation. "We're aware of those reports," spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on April 8. China, which portrays itself as a neutral party in the war, has become the Kremlin's largest supplier of essential for weapons manufacturing. Unlike troops, who have fought on Russian soil, the Chinese nationals were captured on Ukrainian territory, marking a potential escalation in foreign involvement. North Korea sent around 12,000 troops to Russia's in 2024 to reinforce Russian lines after a Ukrainian cross-border offensive. Kyiv has said it captured two North Korean in January, estimating 4,000 casualties among the deployed units. Read also: Trump didn't impose tariffs on Russia but they might be wrecking its economy regardless We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
