More than one hundred Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine are mercenaries who do not appear to have a direct link to China's government, two US officials familiar with American intelligence and a former Western intelligence official said.
The head of US forces in the Indo-Pacific, Admiral Samuel Paparo, confirmed on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two men of Chinese origin in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country had information about 155 Chinese citizens fighting there on Russia's behalf.
The former Western intelligence official with knowledge of the issue told Reuters there were about 200 Chinese mercenaries fighting for Russia with whom the Chinese government has no link.