His comrades died in their very first battle, and he was taken prisoner. Chinese national Wang Wu, known as Sabre, says he, like many other foreigners, was recruited under false pretenses, promised rear-line duties.

But after a brief training period, they were immediately thrown into frontline combat, including in a suicidal assault near Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast. 

A new report by I Want to Live, the Ukrainian state project, has exposed what happens to foreign recruits in the Russian army after signing contracts with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

“I truly understand that we were deceived… I believe signing that contract was a shameful decision. I’m certain other Chinese citizens should know they are being lied to,” says the captured soldier.

According to the project’s representatives, most of the new recruits shown in videos from Russia’s 102nd Regiment are now either dead or severely wounded. Among the dead is Wang Wu’s friend, Yan Jingsheng, whose death he witnessed firsthand.

The project has stressed that foreigners in the Russian army are treated as nothing more than cannon fodder.

“If they don’t spare their own, why would they make exceptions for Asians or Africans?” the statement reads.

On 8 April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting alongside Russian troops in the Donetsk Oblast. The operatives obtained their documents, bank cards, and personal data. An investigation and additional measures are ongoing. 

One of them paid $3,482 to join the Russian military through a Chinese intermediary. He explained that his main motivation was to obtain Russian citizenship through military service. He underwent basic training in occupied Luhansk alongside other Chinese citizens, with instruction conducted without formal translation.

Ukraine's parliament on June 18 supported a bill allowing Ukrainian citizens to hold passports of foreign countries, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.

The draft law, backed by 243 lawmakers in the second and final reading, outlines conditions for holding multiple citizenship and simplifies procedures for foreigners wanting to obtain Ukrainian passports.

The legislation must receive a presidential signature before entering force, largely a formality as President Volodymyr Zelensky himself submitted the bill last August.

Until now, the status of multiple citizenship has not been recognized by Ukrainian law.

The bill also establishes new grounds for losing citizenship, such as receiving a Russian passport or serving in the Russian Armed Forces.

The government will determine the list of countries whose citizens will be able to obtain Ukrainian passports in a simplified way, taking into account issues like EU membership or imposed sanctions in connection with Russian aggression.

Multiple citizenship will be recognized for foreigners from the listed countries who apply for Ukrainian citizenship, or if Ukrainian citizens apply for citizenship in these countries. It will also be recognized for Ukrainian spouses of foreign citizens and other specified cases.

Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia said the law is not applicable to Russian citizens or citizens of countries that do not recognize Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Even before the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian diaspora has been widespread around the world, with particularly large communities in the EU, the U.S., and Canada. The war drew millions more from their home, and 6.8 million Ukrainian refugees and asylum-seekers remain abroad as of 2025, according to U.N. data.

Among others, the bill is seen as part of Ukraine's effort to strengthen ties with Ukrainians living abroad. Zelensky said the document should allow ethnic Ukrainians born abroad to obtain citizenship.

The president included the step in his 10-point internal resilience plan last November.

Hungary’s soft power meets Ukraine’s hard reality in Zakarpattia

BEREHOVE, Zakarpattia Oblast — Thin gray smoke drifts beyond the patchwork of Soviet-era apartment blocks, historical buildings, and hillside vineyards that make up Berehove — the heart of the Hungarian community in Ukraine’s westernmost Zakarpattia Oblast. “That’s Hungary, over there,” gestures Vitalii Antipov, a member of the local council, toward the not-so-distant

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek