Two Chinese men, who fought as mercenaries for Russia in the Ukraine war and were captured, claimed they were deceived by Russian lies to join the war.
On the 14th (local time), according to Ukrainian media, the mercenaries, 27-year-old Zhang Renbo and 34-year-old Wang Guangjun, shared their experiences at a press conference hosted by the Ukrainian Security Service.
Zhang stated that he arrived in Moscow, Russia, in December of last year for tourism purposes and stayed there for a week. He volunteered after seeing an advertisement promising 2 million rubles (about 34.6 million won) for enlisting.
Zhang continued, saying he received a card with 200,000 rubles (about 3.46 million won) on it, but claimed that Russians took his card and used it under the pretext of fuel costs.
Wang, who attended the conference with Zhang, said he applied as a mercenary after contacting a Russian representative through a TikTok advertisement in China.
Wang, who arrived in Moscow in February and signed a contract, claimed that he had no previous combat experience and had never handled a weapon.
He also remembered receiving just a handful of raw rice after working until dawn.
In response to questions about living conditions within the Russian military, the two captives said that water and electricity were scarce.
The captives continued by stating, “Everything Russia told us was a lie,” and “Russia is not as strong as it claims to be, and Ukraine is not falling behind.”
Currently held as prisoners of war in Kyiv, the two expressed their desire to return to China.
They added, “If there are any Chinese considering joining the Ukraine war, we want to tell them not to.”
Previously, in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that hundreds of Chinese were fighting in the Russian military, China strongly retorted, advising against making “irresponsible remarks.”
[Photo source: AFP=Yonhap News]
■ Contact for reporting
▷ Phone: 02-781-1234, 4444
▷ Email: kbs1234@kbs.co.kr
▷ Search ‘KBS제보’ and add the channel on KakaoTalk
▷ Subscribe to KBS News on Naver and YouTube!