Zelensky warns 'many' China soldiers are on Russia frontlines as two captured in shock escalation

Ukrainian forces have captured two Chinese prisoners fighting alongside Russian forces in a major new escalation. President revealed there were “many more” citizens now on the front and added that his forces were investigating. He made the stunning announcement after vowing his forces will drive ’s war on them all the way back to "where it came from".

The leader made the declaration as he confirmed for the first time had made a second incursion into Russia, probing firmly into the border Belgorod region. And now he is demanding an explanation from Beijing after his troops took two “Chinese citizens” prisoner after getting into a firefight with them.

On the presence of Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russia he said: “We have information that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units. We are finding out all the facts.” A China involvement, if state sponsored, means the scale of the war could escalate rapidly, although these fighters could be mercenaries.

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Ukrainian troops have been in Belgorod for several months now but this was a rare confirmation of the Belgorod incursion as Zelensky poured praise on his soldiers. Kyiv’s forces are still hanging onto their last foothold in Kursk, also across the Russian border, where ferocious battles are being fought.

Zelensky said: “Today, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky reported separately on the front, our presence in the Kursk Oblast, and our presence in the Belgorod Oblast. “We continue to conduct active operations in border areas on enemy territory – and this is absolutely right.

“The war must return to where it came from.” He said the incursions are defensive missions designed to protect Ukraine’s own Sumy and Kharkiv border regions. By hitting Russian troops in depth they are diverting troops away from the invasion effort.

On Monday there was anger and outrage in Zelensky’s hometown as it held funerals for some of the 20 people, including nine children, killed by a Russian missile that tore through apartment buildings and blasted a playground. More than 70 were wounded in the attack last Friday evening on Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine.

Bodies were strewn across the grass. Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city administration, said: "We are not asking for pity. We demand the world's outrage." The UN Human Rights Office in Ukraine said it was the deadliest single verified strike harming children since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

It was also one of the deadliest attacks so far this year. Ukraine has consented to a ceasefire proposed weeks ago by Washington. But Russia is still negotiating with the United States its terms for accepting a truce in the more than three-year war.

US President has voiced frustration with Russian President over the continued fighting. In Kryvyi Rih, 59-year-old teacher Iryna Kholod remembered Arina and Radyslav, both seven years old and killed in Friday's strike, as being "like little suns in the classroom".

Radyslav, she said, was proud to be part of a school campaign collecting pet food for stray animals. She said: "He held the bag like it was treasure. He wanted to help.”