Chinese national prisoners of war Zhang Renbo and Wang Guangjun ended up in the war in Ukraine after signing contracts in Russia. They stated that they had no relation to the Chinese government and said they were ‘trapped’ by Russia.
They told this at a press conference in Ukrinform.
The prisoners said that they had been brought to the war through intermediaries who offered to sign a contract.
Guangjun, in particular, said that he wanted to work with the rehabilitation of the wounded. According to him, he lost his job during the covid and thus decided to find additional income.
‘The government warned me that it was not advisable for Chinese citizens to go to places where there was fighting... I wanted to be a medic. I was wounded and surrendered,’ he said.
Guangjun added that the Russians did not even tell them how much money they would be paid.
‘There is no point in doing that. Everything we heard from the Russians is not true,’ he stressed.
Renbo said that he came from a fairly wealthy family and went to Russia to travel. He noted that he ‘did not expect to be at war and knew almost nothing about Ukraine’.
The prisoner of war added that he initially refused to take part in hostilities, but then agreed. He reiterated that he had nothing to do with the Chinese government.
Both prisoners stressed that they wanted to be exchanged and return to China.