Moscow on Thursday rejected Kiev’s claim that Chinese nationals are fighting with Ukrainian Russian troops.
“This is not the case,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news organizations.
Peskov said that although China is Moscow’s “strategic partner and friend”, China holds a “balanced” position in the war.
His remarks were posted when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Chinese fighters were participating in a conflict on the Russian side.
“Zelensky is wrong,” Peskov said.
Despite China’s declaration of neutrality, it faces criticism because it provides goods to Russia that are considered crucial to its military industrial complexes, such as components used in drone manufacturing.
Zelensky announced earlier this week that two Chinese nationals in eastern Ukraine were vying for Russia. He later claimed that Kyiv had identified 155 Chinese citizens fighting for Russia.
He said their presence contradicted Beijing’s official neutrality and repeatedly called for avoiding an escalation of the war.
China firmly denied Zelensky’s allegations.
Kyiv says Russian troops execute four Ukrainian soldiers
Authorities in Kiev also said they were investigating four captured Ukrainian soldiers allegedly killed Russian troops.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s Human Rights Commissioner, said the killing of prisoners of war is believed to have occurred in March in the Ukrainian village of Piatykhatky, in southern Ukraine.
As before, the suspicion is based on videos circulating on social media networks.
Rubinit wrote on X: “They had no weapons. They raised their hands and walked out of a destroyed building and surrendered. They were shot dead on the spot.”
“This is clearly a violation of the Geneva Convention and serious war crimes,” he said, adding that he would conduct an investigation with the International Red Cross and the United Nations.
Ukraine reports latest casualties
Zelensky said at least one person was killed and five injured in a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
“Russia obviously ignores diplomacy and its connection to the world is simply to serve its own interests, not to end the war,” Zelensky said in his night video address.
“What is needed now is a strategy of pressure – Russia is about to end the pressure of terror and war. I thank everyone around the world for helping us in this effort.”
In the Kiev capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people were injured in a drone attack. The city authorities also reported that the warehouse caused a fire due to debris from the drone.
According to official data, another 10 people were injured in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. According to reports, part of the drone landed on a residential building there.
Unverified figures from the Ukrainian Air Defense Agency show that the Russian military deployed 145 drones to six regions in Ukraine at night.
The service reported that 85 flying objects were shot down and another 49 disappeared from the radar without consequences.
Ukraine has been defending the Russian invasion for more than four years.
