Propagandists have used manipulations from MP Dubinsky and Chinese pseudo-blogger.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian soldiers captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside the Russian army in the Donetsk sector. He also published a video showing one of the captured Chinese nationals.
Following this, Russia began spreading disinformation to conceal the fact of the capture and to portray the video posted by the President of Ukraine as part of a “Ukrainian information and psychological operation.”
Initially, Russian media, the website of the media group affiliated with Ukrainian traitor Viktor Medvedchuk, and pro-war Telegram channels claimed that the individual in the video was not a Chinese citizen but rather an actor — or even “an American of Chinese descent.” As “evidence,” they cited the name of the video file: “0804_Korean_Soldier 2.” Propagandists alleged that staff from the Office of the President of Ukraine made a mistake and “revealed themselves,” implying they had initially intended to present a video of a captured Korean soldier.
Later, Russian state media claimed that the Ukrainian parliament had denied the capture of Chinese citizens fighting in the ranks of the Russian army.
However, the supposed “source” in the Ukrainian parliament turned out to be MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, who is currently in pre-trial detention on charges of high treason in favor of Russia.
This claim is false. The original video file posted on President Zelensky’s Telegram channel was titled simply “0804.”
Dubinsky’s “proof” is a video file not taken from the president’s official Telegram channel, but from a Telegram account called “Lachen Writes,” which reposted the video under the name “0804_Korean_Soldier 2.” Nevertheless, in the post by the channel’s owner, Ukrainian blogger Ihor Lachenkov, it was clearly stated that the video features a Chinese soldier, not a Korean one.
It is worth noting that the president’s account published the video at 15:19, while “Lachen Writes” posted it later, at 15:21.
Thus, Russian propagandists resorted to manipulation and created their own fake narrative based on the name of a downloaded and re-uploaded video file from the Telegram channel “Lachen Writes.”
In his post, Dubinsky also claimed that “Washington is laughing at Ukrainian fakes,” citing as “evidence” a repost of his message by an X account named Lord Bebo. However, this account is a bot that spreads Russian propaganda and masquerades as an anonymous American journalist.
Meanwhile, officials from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration expressed concern over Russia’s use of foreign fighters, including North Koreans and now Chinese citizens, in its war against Ukraine.
Russian sources also referenced an “authoritative” Chinese blogger on the platform Weibo, using the nickname “Focus on Planet A.” He labeled the President of Ukraine’s statements a “fabrication” and an attempt to create a “new enemy” in the form of the People’s Republic of China.
In reality, this so-called blogger is another Russian-aligned propagandist operating on Chinese social media, spreading fake news about Ukraine. His Weibo page presents the Russia-Ukraine war exclusively from the Russian perspective, primarily featuring combat footage and falsehoods about Ukraine that are typically circulated on Russian pro-war Telegram channels.
It is also worth noting the profile picture of “Focus on Planet A.” It is a cropped version of the cover image of a Russian propaganda project titled “Personal Photo Chronicle. Anatoly Lebed,” dedicated to a Russian terrorist who fought in Chechnya and participated in the occupation of Georgia. He died in a car crash in 2012.
Fact-checkers from Ukrinform have previously debunked fake news spread by this propagandist, who then used the nickname “Earth Lens A.” He falsely claimed that President Volodymyr Zelensky attempted to register an account on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, but it was deleted.
Once again, the Russian Federation is using disinformation to cover up its recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in its war against Ukraine.
In response, the Chinese government has stated it is clarifying information with the Ukrainian side regarding the Chinese citizens reportedly captured while fighting as part of Russian occupation forces.
Russian propaganda had earlier spread fake news about a “mysterious epidemic” allegedly affecting the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Sumy region.
Andriy Olenin
Source: Russian propaganda attempts to deny capture of Chinese citizens by Ukrainian Armed Forces
