Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine conducted the first interrogations of prisoners of war from the People's Republic of China, captured by the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Donetsk region. The prisoners are currently providing testimony about how they ended up in the war in Ukraine and the tasks they performed as part of the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory.
The detainees are two Chinese citizens: one was captured by soldiers from the 2nd Battalion of the 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade near the settlement of Tarasivka, and the other by troops from the 1st Battalion of the 81st Separate Airborne Brigade near Bilohorivka.
The foreign prisoners do not have combat injuries but are receiving necessary medical care as stipulated by the Geneva Convention.
To conduct preliminary investigative actions, they were transferred to Kyiv and are being held in conditions that comply with international law. Communication with the prisoners is being carried out through interpreters.
According to both individuals, they were captured by Ukrainian forces during their first combat assignment.
One of the prisoners, a 1991-born unemployed man, was recruited by a Russian representative directly in China. In February 2025, he arrived in Moscow and signed a contract.
The other, born in 1998, came to Russia in December 2024, supposedly for tourism. He later applied to sign a contract after responding to an online advertisement about recruitment and a promised payment of 2 million rubles.
The SSU is currently verifying the prisoners' statements and conducting the necessary investigations to establish all circumstances regarding the participation of the Chinese citizens in Russia's war against Ukraine.
The investigation is being conducted under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (war crimes).
