Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Thursday that Ukraine’s intelligence community has collected evidence that China is supplying weapons to the Russian military. Zelensky said his administration would “speak in greater detail next week” about Beijing’s involvement, but he told reporters that Kyiv has proof that China is providing Russia with gunpowder and artillery. The Ukrainian president also said “Chinese representatives” might be involved in weapons production on Russian territory.
Officially, China maintains a neutral stance in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has called for the conflict to be resolved through negotiations. Beijing has not joined sanctions against Moscow.
In early April 2025, Ukrainian troops captured two Chinese nationals fighting with the Russian military. Officials in Beijing say these two men were acting as private individuals and emphasized that China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly warned its citizens against participating in the war. The captured fighters say they were deceived into enlisting with the military after coming to Russia for work.