China secretly trained around 200 Russian soldiers at the end of last year, and some of them were later sent to fight in Ukraine, according to three European intelligence agencies and documents analyzed by Reuters.
The training took place in several military facilities in China, including in Beijing and Nanjing, and focused mainly on the use of drones, electronic warfare, artillery, and mechanized infantry tactics.
The information comes from a Russian-Chinese military agreement dated July 2025 and consulted by Reuters, as well as from internal reports of the Russian army.
According to the same sources, some of the trained soldiers were later identified in combat zones in Ukraine, including in occupied Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia region.
Although China officially claims to maintain a neutral position in the conflict and supports peace initiatives, the documents cited by Reuters suggest a deeper military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow than was previously known.
The training included FPV drone flight simulators, techniques to counter enemy drones, as well as military engineering exercises, detonation, and neutralization of explosive devices.
Both the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian military authorities have not commented on the information, but Beijing has reiterated that it maintains an "objective and impartial" position in the conflict.
Reuters notes that, alongside this program, China and Russia have intensified their military cooperation in recent years, including through joint exercises and exchanges of military technology.