EU receives confirmation that China trained russian soldiers for war in Ukraine - media reports

The European Union has confirmed reports that China has been training russian soldiers, some of whom subsequently went to fight in the war against Ukraine.

It was reported by Suspilne, citing a high-ranking EU official.

"Our services have confirmed that such training is taking place in several locations within China. We are talking about hundreds of people, but this contradicts what the Chinese side has told us so far. This is specific training of soldiers, some of whom later ended up in the war or on the front lines," the source told the publication.

In addition, European ministers will discuss cooperation with China on Monday at a meeting in Luxembourg.

"Relations between the EU and China will be discussed, where, obviously, foreign ministers will focus more on foreign and defense policy issues, as well as on the problems of the defense industry’s dependence on China or the supply chains of our defense industry. And on Chinese economic players. We expect a discussion of our collective interests in a potential crisis in the Far East region," the source added.

It is noted that EU High Representative Kaja Kallas will first and foremost emphasize EU unity, which is key to cooperation, especially with such powerful partners as China, our source noted.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Reuters previously reported, citing data from three European intelligence services and documents reviewed by the agency, that in late 2025, the Chinese armed forces secretly trained about 200 russian servicemen on Chinese territory, and some of them later returned to participate in combat operations in Ukraine.