China's armed forces secretly trained about 200 Russian servicemen in China late last year, and some of them subsequently returned to "fight in Ukraine," Reuters reports, citing data from three European intelligence agencies and documents, according to UNN.<\/p>\n
While China and Russia have conducted a series of joint military exercises since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Beijing has repeatedly stated that it is neutral in the conflict and positions itself as a peace mediator.<\/p>\n
"The secret training, which focused primarily on the use of drones, was outlined in a bilingual Russian-Chinese agreement signed by high-ranking Russian and Chinese officers in Beijing on July 2, 2025," the publication writes.<\/p>\n
\nThe agreement, seen by Reuters, says about 200 Russian servicemen would undergo training at military facilities including Beijing and the eastern city of Nanjing. Sources said approximately that number subsequently underwent training in China,<\/p>\n
– the publication states.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The agreement also noted that "hundreds of Chinese servicemen would undergo training at military facilities in Russia."<\/p>\n
"By training Russian servicemen at the operational and tactical level who then participate in Ukraine, China is much more directly involved in the war on the European continent than previously thought," one intelligence official said.<\/p>\n
"Regarding the Ukraine crisis, China consistently maintains an objective and impartial position and works to promote peace talks; this is consistent and clear, and it is confirmed by the international community," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters. "Relevant parties should not deliberately incite confrontation or shift blame."<\/p>\n
European nations, which view Russia as a primary security threat, are cautiously watching the increasingly close relationship between Russia and China, the world's second-largest economy and an important EU trading partner.<\/p>\n
The two countries announced a strategic "no limits" partnership days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and pledged to conduct military exercises to practice coordination between their armed forces. While the West sought to isolate Russia, China provided a lifeline by buying its oil, gas, and coal, the publication writes.<\/p>\n
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to host Kremlin head Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and Wednesday, less than a week after a high-profile visit by US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Putin seeks to unblock gas pipeline during talks with Xi in Beijing – Bloomberg19.05.26, 11:08 \u2022 1736 views<\/p>\n
China and Russia view Putin's trip\u2014his 25th visit to China\u2014as further evidence of their "all-weather" partnership, even as the West calls on Beijing to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Drone War<\/h2>\n
Drones have proven to be a vital weapon in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Both sides use long-range models to strike targets hundreds of kilometers away, while smaller FPV drones, remotely controlled by pilots and equipped with explosives, dominate the skies over the battlefield, making them dangerous for armored vehicles or infantry movement.<\/p>\n
In September, Reuters reported that experts from private Chinese companies were conducting technical development of military drones for a Russian strike drone manufacturer, according to European officials. China's Foreign Ministry said at the time it was unaware of such cooperation.<\/p>\n
The two companies mentioned in the article were placed under EU sanctions last month.<\/p>\n
According to the training agreement seen by Reuters, "the Russians were to undergo training in disciplines such as drones, electronic warfare, army aviation, and armored infantry." The agreement prohibited any media coverage of the visits in either country and stipulated that no third parties should be informed.<\/p>\n
Visits by Chinese troops to Russia for training have been occurring since at least 2024, but the training of Russian personnel in China is a new phenomenon, two intelligence agencies said.<\/p>\n
While Russia has extensive combat experience in Ukraine, China's massive drone industry offers technological know-how and advanced training methods, such as flight simulators, they said.<\/p>\n
China's People's Liberation Army has not participated in major wars for decades, but it has expanded rapidly over the past 20 years and now rivals US military power in some areas.<\/p>\n
According to two intelligence services, "a significant number of the Russian servicemen trained in China were high-level military instructors capable of passing knowledge down the chain of command."<\/p>\n
One agency said it had "confirmed the identities of several Russian servicemen who underwent training in China and have since been directly involved in combat operations using drones in Ukraine-occupied Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia region."<\/p>\n
The ranks of these individuals ranged from junior sergeant to lieutenant colonel, the agency reported.<\/p>\n
The names of these individuals appeared in a Russian military document seen by Reuters, which listed servicemen heading to China. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the subsequent involvement of these individuals in the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The same intelligence agency stated that it is "highly likely that many of those who underwent training in China went to Ukraine."<\/p>\n
Mortars and Flight Simulators<\/h2>\n
Internal Russian military reports seen by Reuters describe four training sessions for Russian troops in China after they were conducted.<\/p>\n
One report from December 2025 describes a combined arms combat training course for about 50 Russian servicemen at a branch of the PLA Ground Force Infantry Academy in Shijiazhuang.<\/p>\n
The report says the course included training soldiers to fire 82mm mortars using unmanned aerial vehicles to identify targets.<\/p>\n
A second report describes air defense training at a military facility, specifically using electronic warfare rifles, net-throwing devices, and drones to counter incoming drones. Two officials said the facility is located in Zhengzhou.<\/p>\n
All of this equipment is relevant to the war in Ukraine, the publication writes. Electronic warfare rifles are aimed at incoming drones to create interference and disrupt their signals, while nets can be thrown around drones to trap them as they approach, the publication points out.<\/p>\n
Both sides use fiber-optic drones connected to pilots by a thin thread that cannot be electronically jammed. Fiber-optic drones typically operate at distances of 10 to 20 km, but some can reach 40 km.<\/p>\n
A third report, dated December 2025 and written by a Russian major, describes training Russian personnel on drones at the PLA Military Aviation Training Center in Yibin, 1st Brigade. The course focused on multimedia presentations and included the use of flight simulators, training on several types of FPV drones, and two other types of drones, the report says.<\/p>\n
A fourth report described a course held in November 2025 at the PLA Nanjing University of Military Infantry Engineering. The training covered explosives technology, mine construction, demining, as well as the disposal of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices.<\/p>\n
This report included photos of Russian soldiers in uniform being trained by Chinese instructors in military uniform. The images also showed Russian soldiers being shown engineering equipment and how to conduct mine searches, the publication writes.<\/p>\n
China still supplies drone production in Iran and Russia despite sanctions – WSJ06.05.26, 12:28 \u2022 4682 views<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China's armed forces secretly trained about 200 Russian servicemen in China late last year, and some of them subsequently returned to "fight in Ukraine," Reuters reports, citing data from three European intelligence agencies and documents, according to UNN. Details While China and Russia have conducted a series of joint military exercises since Moscow's full-scale invasion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-50751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-war-in-ukraine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}