China Secretly Trained Russian Troops Who Returned to Fight In Ukraine: Report
China’s Covert Military Training of Russian Troops and Its Impact on the Ukraine War
Background of the Secret Training Program
May 19 (Reuters) - China's armed forces secretly trained about 200 Russian military personnel in China late last year and some have since returned to fight in Ukraine, according to three European intelligence agencies and documents seen by Reuters.
While China and Russia have held a number 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 presents itself as a peace mediator.
The Secret Agreement
The covert training sessions, which predominantly focused on the use of drones, were outlined in a dual-language Russian-Chinese agreement signed by senior Russian and Chinese officers in Beijing on July 2, 2025.
The agreement, reviewed by Reuters, said about 200 Russian troops would be trained at military facilities in locations including Beijing and the eastern city of Nanjing. The sources said around this number subsequently trained in China.
The agreement also said hundreds of Chinese troops would undergo training at military facilities in Russia.
Implications of the Training
By training Russian military personnel at an operational and tactical level who then participate in Ukraine, China is far more directly involved in the war on the European continent than previously known, one intelligence official said.
The Russian and Chinese defence ministries did not respond to requests for comment on the details outlined in this article.
"On the Ukraine crisis, China has consistently maintained an objective and impartial stance and worked to promote peace talks, this is consistent and clear and is witnessed by the international community," China's foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters. "Relevant parties should not deliberately stoke confrontation or shift blame."
The intelligence agencies spoke on condition they not be identified in order to discuss sensitive information.
Growing Russia-China Military Relations
European powers, which see Russia as a major security threat, have watched warily at increasingly close relations between Russia and China, the world's second largest economy and an important European Union trade partner.
The two nations announced a "no limits" strategic partnership days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and pledged to conduct military exercises to rehearse coordination between their armed forces. As the West tried to isolate Russia, China provided a lifeline by buying its oil, gas and coal.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to host Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and Wednesday, less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump's high-profile visit.
China and Russia have cast Putin's trip - his 25th visit to China - as further evidence of their "all-weather" partnership, even as the West urges Beijing to pressure Moscow into ending its war in Ukraine.
Drone Warfare and Military Technology Exchange
The Role of Drones in the Ukraine Conflict
DRONE WARFARE
Drones have proved to be a vital weapon in Ukraine.
Both sides use long-range models to attack targets hundreds of miles away, while on the battlefield, smaller drones remote controlled by pilots using first person view equipment (FPV) and armed with explosives dominate the sky, making it hazardous for armoured vehicles or infantry to move.
Chinese Involvement in Russian Drone Development
In September, Reuters reported that experts from private Chinese companies had conducted technical development work on military drones for a Russian attack drone manufacturer, according to European officials. China's foreign ministry said then it was unaware of the collaboration.
The two companies identified in the article were sanctioned by the EU last month.
Details of the Training Curriculum
According to the training agreement reviewed by Reuters, the Russians would be schooled in disciplines such as drones, electronic warfare, army aviation and armoured infantry. The agreement prohibited any media coverage of the visits in either country and said no third parties should be informed.
Visits by Chinese troops to Russia for training have been taking place since at least 2024, but Russian personnel training in China is new, two of the intelligence agencies said.
While Russia has extensive combat experience in Ukraine, China's vast drone industry offers technological know-how and advanced training methods such as flight simulators, they said.
China's People's Liberation Army has not fought a major war for decades, but it has expanded quickly in the past 20 years and now rivals U.S. military might in some areas.
Impact on Russian Military Capabilities
A significant number of Russian personnel who received training in China were ranking military instructors in a position to pass knowledge down the chain of command, the two intelligence agencies said.
One of the agencies said they had confirmed the identities of a handful of Russian military personnel who trained in China and had since been directly involved in combat operations with drones in Ukraine's occupied Crimea and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The rank of those people ranged from junior sergeant to lieutenant colonel, the agency said.
The names of the individuals appeared in a Russian military document seen by Reuters that listed the servicemen going to China. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the subsequent involvement of those individuals in the Ukraine war.
The same intelligence agency said it was highly probable that many of those who trained in China had gone to Ukraine.
Mortar Training and Advanced Simulators
Training Sessions in China
MORTARS AND FLIGHT SIMULATORS
Internal Russian military reports reviewed by Reuters described four of the training sessions for Russian troops in China after they had taken place.
One report dated December 2025 described a training course on combined arms warfare for about 50 Russian military personnel at the PLA's Ground Forces Army Infantry Academy branch in Shijiazhuang.
The report said the course involved training soldiers to fire 82mm mortars while using unmanned aerial vehicles to identify their targets.
A second repo
