In recent days, the capture of two Chinese soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine has highlighted the role of foreign fighters in that conflict. In a post to his X account, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that there might be growing numbers of Chinese fighting on the Russian side. Officials in Beijing responded by calling Ukraine’s claim “totally unfounded” and denying that there are significant numbers of Chinese citizens fighting on Russia’s behalf.

At the Financial Times, Christopher Miller reported that the two Chinese fighters, aged 33 and 31, had been captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting with Russian soldiers in the eastern Donetsk region. This prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to instruct his foreign minister Andriy Sybiha to summon the Chinese chargé d’affaires in Kyiv for an explanation:

It is unclear whether the Chinese fighters were soldiers in the country’s army or mercenaries who joined Russia’s military on their own. There have been reports of Chinese nationals joining the Russian army independently and western officials said they had not seen any evidence of state sponsorship.

Zelenskyy said Kyiv has “information that there are significantly more Chinese citizens” fighting in Russia’s army and he had tasked his intelligence agencies with clarifying the facts.

[Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy] Sybiha said the participation of Chinese citizens in the Russian army “calls into question China’s declared position on peace and undermines trust in Beijing as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council”.

Moscow has also recruited mercenaries from countries across the world to fight with its forces in Ukraine. Many have come from Cuba, India, Yemen and several African nations.

The only regular soldiers known to have officially entered the war have come from North Korea. Pyongyang sent more than 11,000 troops to help Russia last autumn, according to Ukrainian and western officials. [Source]

Posts on Chinese social media show that there are, indeed, a number of Chinese citizens currently fighting for Russia, either as mercenaries or regular army recruits. Some of these fighters post videos set to music, or use their social media presence to gain more followers or sell products online. Le Monde’s Harold Thibault recently profiled “Fen,” a Chinese man who fought for Russia in Ukraine, spent much of his time there in hospital, and has since returned to China. On social media platforms, particularly Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, Le Monde “identified around 40 social media accounts belonging to Chinese individuals who, backed by photo evidence, claim to have signed up with the Russian forces. Fen only met seven of his compatriots on the front lines, but estimated that a few hundred may have joined the fighting.”

CDT Chinese has republished an interview between investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Chai Jing and a Chinese citizen nicknamed “Macaron,” who has been fighting with the Russian army in Ukraine. The wide-ranging interview, conducted via video and interspersed with copious posts from Chinese soldiers involved in the Russia-Ukraine war, details Macaron’s demoralizing experiences with perilous battlefield conditions; inadequate rations and equipment; racism against Black, Asian, and other foreign fighters; the motives of Chinese fighters, who according to Macaron can also be found on the Ukrainian side, though in smaller numbers; and desperate attempts to escape the fighting and return home to China. (For more CDT coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, see “Four Censored Essays on the Ukraine Crisis,” “Netizen Voices on Ukraine,” and a censorship directive with instructions to “keep Weibo posts on Ukraine favorable to Russia.”)

Below is Part One of CDT’s full translation of the interview, published with Chai Jing’s permission. Some explanatory links and descriptions of audio-visual content have been added for clarity.

Chai Jing: Three years into the Russia-Ukraine war, the conflict has reached a critical juncture. The situation is highly volatile, and its outcome will have a significant impact on the future global order. Upon this battlefield, there are also Chinese citizens—some fighting for Russia, and others fighting for Ukraine. In upcoming programs, I will be interviewing participants from both sides in order to understand their differing viewpoints and beliefs, and through their eyes, to glimpse the inner workings of a war that is often inaccessible to journalists.

In today’s program, I will be interviewing "Macaron," a Chinese mercenary in the Russian army. He spoke via video, from an underground bunker on the front lines.

Interview transcript:

Macaron: Actually, there are a lot of people who … [hearing a noise and turning his head to look] Did you hear that gunfire?

Chai: That was gunfire? Are you on the front lines?

Macaron: Yeah, yeah. They’ve got these unmanned drones flying over, and sometimes we shoot them down.

Chai: I realize that your current location is quite sensitive, but to the extent that you’re able, can you tell us roughly where you are?

Macaron: Oh sure, it’s fine, I can tell you straight up—it’s Bakhmut. The Russian army started the assault on Bakhmut in October of 2022 … uh, no, it started in August. By May of 2023, we’d taken control of the city, but there’s always been intense fighting on the outskirts.

Chai: And what’s your role in this?

Macaron: I’m part of an advance team, an assault unit.

Chai: And what’s your team’s mission?

Macaron: To continue the forward advance by attacking and infiltrating the enemy lines. We’re actually quite close to the combat zone, just a few kilometers away—five or six kilometers at most.

Chai: You talk about "we" and "the enemy." As you can imagine, this program will provoke a lot of discussion, including criticism of you. Are you prepared for that?

Macaron: Oh, that’s no big deal, seeing as this is the path I chose. Since I realize that one of these days, I might die here on the battlefield, I’ve decided to share some real-life experiences. China, and the Chinese people, haven’t experienced war in a long time, so I want to tell them what war is like for an ordinary soldier, especially a foreign soldier.

Chai: What do you want to tell the Chinese people?

Macaron: I hope China can maintain a sensible stance and avoid rashly starting or getting drawn into a war. A lot of people watch these exaggerated patriotic dramas that glorify war—like “Wolf Warrior” and “Drawing Sword”—and they get all fired up. But the reality of battle is incredibly brutal. It’s literally hell on earth.

Chai (V.O.): Macaron himself was once a fan of “Wolf Warrior” and “Drawing Sword.” He was born in 1995 in Shandong and previously served in the [Chinese] military. When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, he was working for the military as a team-building instructor.

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Putin announced a "special military operation" against Ukraine.

[Video of Putin speaking]

Putin: “I decided to conduct a special military operation.”

Chai (V.O.): Ukrainian President Zelenskyy responded.

[Video of Zelenskyy speaking]

Zelenskyy: "But if we are attacked by the [enemy] troops, if they try to take our country away from us, our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves."

Chai (V.O.): On March 2, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with 141 countries voting in favor, 5 against, and China abstaining. In November 2023, Macaron arrived in Moscow on a tourist visa and joined the [Russian] military.

Chai: [speaking to Macaron] Since no one asked you to join this war, no one forced you into it, and it isn’t even your war, why did you decide to join up?

Macaron: There were a lot of reasons. Money was part of it, but not the main reason. Honestly, the salary isn’t even that high. Also, I used to be a soldier when I was in China, but I never experienced war, so I had no idea what it was really like. I originally wanted to join the French Foreign Legion—that’s where I wanted to go—but getting a visa for Europe was a huge hassle. It’s really hard to get a visa for Europe.

Chai: If getting a visa for Ukraine had been just as easy [as getting a visa for Russia], would you have gone to fight for Ukraine instead?

Macaron: Hmm, speaking hypothetically … yeah, it’s possible. It’s definitely possible. I think there are at least a few hundred Chinese fighting for the Russian army, and some fighting for the Ukrainian side, but not very many. I’m sure the visa issue plays a role in that. Also, there are a lot of people who think that helping Russia means helping China.

Chai (V.O.): According to Phoenix TV journalist Lu Yuguang, the first Chinese mercenary killed fighting for Russia in this war was named Zhao Rui. (His fellow mercenary Zhou Zhiqiang said) Zhao joined the war because he’d heard he could fight the Japanese and [other members of] the “Eight-Nation Alliance.” It is unclear whether Zhao Rui was aware that Russia itself had once been part of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Many Chinese mercenaries justify their involvement by invoking a more common bit of nationalist rhetoric. They say, “China and Russia are in the same boat,” and "We both oppose NATO expansion." They firmly believe they’re on the winning side.

[A TikTok video of Sun Ruiqi, a Chinese citizen fighting for Russia, with a group of other soldiers]

Sun: Attention! Stand by for orders!
Crowd of soldiers: Standing by, sir!
Sun: Greetings, comrades!
Crowd: Greetings, comrades!
Sun: You’ve served well, comrades!
Crowd: We serve with honor, sir!
Sun: Send me into battle first …
Crowd: Send me into battle, sir …
Sun: And victory is assured!
Crowd: And victory is assured!
Sun: Okay!
Crowd: Okay!

Chai (V.O.): However, Chinese nationalists have always had mixed feelings about Russia. After the war [in Ukraine] started, a list of Russia’s past territorial invasions of China circulated on social media, with some people comparing Russia’s incursions to Japan’s establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo. This pressure forced some Chinese mercenaries fighting for Russia to justify their choices.

[A Bilibili video from a Chinese soldier fighting for Russia who goes by the name of “Warden”]

Warden: Some people tell me I’m “selling out to the enemy.” First of all, you’ve got to understand who’s paying my salary, who’s keeping me fed. If I go back [to China], are you going to put food on my table? No, right? So let’s be real, let’s tell it like it is: I’m loyal to whoever pays me. It’s that simple. When I can’t even afford to feed myself, you’re going to lecture me about ideals? [Warden’s defense strongly echoes justifications offered by Chinese censorship workers in recent interviews.]

Chai (V.O.): To gain followers on social media, Chinese mercenaries often post soundtracked videos of themselves marching or doing training exercises. Many of those fighting also hawk products online.

[A Chinese social-media video set to music shows soldiers on the march.]

Macaron: A lot of people were deep in debt back home, so they rolled the dice and came here. I guess they figured it was worth the risk of dying. A lot of guys also have these fantasies about being in battle. I got so many DMs that I stopped replying. I used to try to talk them out of it, but now I don’t bother—there are just too many of them, complaining about how bad the Chinese job market is, or how much debt they’re in.

Chai: Are they [Russia] paying you a decent salary?

Macaron: It’s typical, pretty typical. About 15,000 yuan per month [$2,500 U.S. dollars], more or less. But the purchasing power here is terrible. What 10,000 yuan buys you here might only cost 2,500 yuan back in China. Also, the pay isn’t commensurate with the danger and difficulty of the job. I work 365 days a year with no vacation, no time off—I’m constantly on duty. It’s a highly dangerous job, plus you don’t have any freedom.

Chai (V.O.): On June 4, 2023, Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive against Russian-occupied territories in the southeast. This marked a critical point in the war. In the year prior, Russian conscription efforts had met with significant backlash at home. In response, they shifted their recruitment efforts, offering bonuses to new recruits and trying to appeal to their masculinity.

[A Russian recruitment ad features stirring rock music and heroic-looking soldiers emerging from the smoke of a battlefield. Russian captions read “You’re a real man. Be one,” and offer enlistment contracts with monthly salaries equivalent to nearly $2,500.]

Chai (V.O.): Macaron doesn’t speak Russian. He first joined the pro-Russian militia in the Donbas [region of Ukraine]. In May of 2024, he signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry to enlist in the regular Russian army.

During the Battle of Bakhmut, the Russian army, under the command of the Defense Ministry, focused on launching artillery strikes from the periphery of the city, while Wagner Group mercenaries, particularly those recruited from prisons, led the deadly ground assaults. Before arriving at a military training camp in Rostov, Macaron was unaware of these details.

Chai: Hearing these things, some might say you’re just being used as cannon fodder.

Macaron: Hm, as awful as it sounds, they’re right.

Macaron: [in a previous video posted to social media] Why should I be cannon fodder in someone else’s war? Before I came, I didn’t know that’s how they’d treat me. Once I arrived at the training camp in Rostov, I saw there was serious racism—against Black people, and against Chinese people. Why risk your life for people who treat you like that?

Macaron: The Russian commanding officers would openly insult Black soldiers. They’d say these really horrible, racist things—about Black, Arab, and Chinese soldiers. One officer even said, "Right now, it’s wartime, the war is still going on. But once the war’s over, how about we kill the lot of you? You won’t be going home alive …"

Chai: Hang on—

Macaron: It’s true, that’s what he said.

Chai: Wait, hang on—who did he say they would kill?

Macaron: He meant us (the foreign mercenaries). I don’t know if he was joking, or if it was coming from some deep-seated racism, I just don’t know. But our translator at the time quit right on the spot. He was an Arab from Egypt, and he told me he was so disgusted by the commander that he was quitting. After I heard that, I said I wanted to leave, too. I wanted out, but they told me I couldn’t break my contract.

Chai (V.O.): Before signing the contract, Macaron had used translation software to check that he understood it. One section stipulated that enlistees had three months in which to revoke the contract, if they so wished. But when Macaron broached the subject, he was told it was out of the question. Macaron was left with no choice, no way out. He was issued a weapon: a gun that was nearly 80 years old.

Macaron: [in a previous social-media video] Yesterday, the commander gave me a gun—a machine gun, I think, but I don’t really know what kind. I wanted to see how old it was, so I checked the manufacturing date on the gun, and it said 1948, a year before the PRC was founded. Looking at this antique, my heart sank, and I wondered if it even worked anymore. Take a look at this gun. I forgot to tell you the story behind it. See those four notches on the lower part? You know what they mean? They represent “four souls." They told me that when they gave me the gun. I said it was too old, and I didn’t want it, but they kept insisting I take it. I said I didn’t want to use a broken gun, but he (the commander) told me that I had to take it. He said this gun had belonged to four other people, four people who died in battle, and that’s what those four horizontal notches meant. But how they died, I have no idea.

Chai (V.O.): Macaron used his own salary to purchase a helmet, body armor, and other combat gear, but when he went to the hospital for an illness, he was whisked off directly to the front instead—and his equipment never arrived.

Macaron: They didn’t give me the things I needed to survive on the battlefield. Instead, they gave me some dilapidated old gear from soldiers who’d died in battle. It was in really bad shape—the helmet they gave me actually had holes in it. They just handed me this junk and sent me into battle.

Chai: Why didn’t they give you the equipment you’d purchased for yourself?

Macaron: I think it’s because they don’t care. They just don’t care about these things. In a wartime situation, everything moves fast. They’re shipping in groups of soldiers, then shipping them off to the front. No one has time to think about equipment, or care about stuff like that.

Chai: So, in that sense, would it be fair to say that they don’t really care whether you live or die?

Macaron: Yes, you could say that. Because in battle, we’re the assault team, the commandos. Casualties are high, and not many come back alive.

Chai: What’s the survival rate, roughly?

Macaron: From my experience, for every three or four of our soldiers killed, or maybe every five or six, only one Ukrainian soldier dies. That’s the ratio.

Chai (V.O.): Sun Ruiqi, the soldier who shouted, "Send me into battle first, and victory is certain!" eventually made it to the battlefield. I checked his social media and saw a video he’d posted about an older soldier in his unit whose only equipment was a plastic bag. Inside the bag was a single change of clothes. When Sun asked the other soldiers about it, they told him that everyone, including the old soldier himself, believed it wouldn’t be long before he died on the battlefield. Two weeks later, the old soldier had disappeared, and no one ever asked what had become of him.

This is some of the video footage Macaron recorded, showing the material privations on the front lines. He often used candles or gas to cook small portions of noodles. Rice was extremely scarce, and rats had gnawed through the bags used to store bread.

These privations led to internal strife, with Russian soldiers sometimes exchanging “friendly fire” when competing for supplies. The chocolates, sausages, tea, and coffee distributed to soldiers during holidays were used for photo ops: Macaron would be given these items, but as soon as the photo was taken, he would have to hand them back.

Macaron: I told them, "Either don’t give that stuff to me, or don’t take photos. If you’re just going to take it all back, what’s the point? Better not to give it to me in the first place." That sort of thing happened all the time.

Chai: From what you say, it sounds like there’s a certain amount of corruption.

Macaron: Probably. When it comes to stuff like that … [laughs] In the army, especially during wartime, commanders have immense power, but the lives of rank-and-file soldiers are seen as kind of … trivial.

Chai (V.O.): On November 11, 2023 in the Russian Southern Military District, Zhou Zhiqiang and Zhao Rui recorded their first experience as soldiers on the front lines.

[Video recorded by Zhou Zhiqiang, in darkness]

Zhou: The Russians don’t see us as human beings, but as suicide squads. We were ordered to seize some trenches, so we did, but because they didn’t send any reinforcements, we suffered heavy casualties. Out of a few dozen, only six or seven of us made it out unscathed.

Chai (V.O.): On November 18, Zhao Rui’s unit found themselves surrounded by Ukrainian forces. These are videos that Zhao Rui took during the siege.

[The first video shows about a dozen uniformed soldiers sitting or sleeping on the floor of a room. The curtains are drawn, one window is blocked with sandbags, and the soldiers’ weapons are propped up against the walls. An injured man lies on a bed.]

Zhao: It’s our third day under siege. This guy is injured, and we’ve got to evacuate him or he’ll die.

[The second video shows the same room, slightly darkened. A few of the men are standing and talking in the background.]

Zhao: Day four. All last night, we tried to evacuate our wounded, but we couldn’t get him out. We tried to make a break for it, but it was hopeless.

[The third video shows the same room, the ground now strewn with garbage and some unopened water bottles. There are fewer soldiers than before, only five or six sprawled on the floor.]

Zhao: It’s our fifth day under siege. Last night, the Ukrainian troops launched a raid against us. There are only a few of us left now … just us few. We can’t hold out much longer.

[The fourth video pans around the room, where several soldiers are sitting and talking.]

Zhao: It’s been six days now.

[Another video just shows the floor, even more littered now, and the feet and legs of several soldiers standing around.]

Zhao: Last night, some Ukrainian APCs and tanks appeared near our position. I don’t think they noticed us because it was so dark, but they hit another building nearby. It was close, really close.

Chai (V.O.): On October 24, after being besieged for six days, they finally managed to retreat.

[A video shows soldiers sitting in the back of a moving military truck with their duffel bags, weapons, and a spare plastic tank of petrol.]

Zhao: When we came, we had a truck full of soldiers. Look how few of us are left. You can count for yourself. Just a few of us. You still want to come here?

Chai (V.O.): In a text message, Macaron told me that, in his experience, the average survival time of a soldier in a combat zone is about three days.

[A video of Macaron, looking exhausted and upset, speaking slowly and directly to the camera.]

Macaron: The night before last, we launched a surprise attack. I was armed with 10 magazines, 10 bullet clips, and five grenades. It was the middle of the night, and we were right in the line of fire. Artillery from both sides kept shelling our position, and we were getting hit by mortar fire, even from our own side, so a lot of us were injured. I don’t know how to describe it, but it was bad, a real bloodbath.

Chai (V.O.): But the only bulletproof equipment he could find were two rusty iron plates.

[A video of Macaron, just his hands and feet visible, lifting two rusty iron plates from the rubble-strewn ground. Each plate is about the size and shape of the head of a small shovel, only much thicker and heavier.]

Macaron: These are great. Two bulletproof plates, pure iron. I just stripped them off someone (a fallen soldier). Heavy as hell, but not bad.

Chai (V.O.): Hoping to reclaim his helmet and body armor, essential for his survival, Macaron filed a complaint with the Russian military police against his commanding officer. His complaint was met with a swift reprisal.

[A video of Macaron in what appears to be a small underground pit with metal bars overhead. The bars are so low that he is unable to stand without ducking his head.]

Macaron: [peering through the metal bars] Hi everyone, I’m Red Macaron. These fucking Russians locked me up in here. I can’t even stand up straight. Just checking in to let you know I’m still alive. It’s been 11 days, but I’m fine, and I’ve got a lot of people trying to help me.

Chai (V.O.): As a result of his complaint, Macaron was thrown into a sort of dungeon—a deep pit in the ground, reinforced with iron bars. It was only three or four square meters [32-43 square feet] in size, and so low he could not stand upright in it. He was allowed to leave it only once a day to use the toilet.

The independent Russian media outlet Important Stories, through eyewitness accounts and satellite imagery, was able to confirm the existence of such “punishment pits” and their use by the Russian army. Two Russian soldiers were also imprisoned in the pit, alongside Macaron.

Chai: Why are soldiers punished in this way?

Macaron: The other two (the Russian soldiers) refused to fight. The thing is, as you know, the Russian army is always pushing forward, always advancing, whereas the Ukrainians are mostly defending. These two didn’t want to fight. They just wanted to hold the line, stay on defense. They didn’t want to kill anyone.

Chai: What happened to them afterward?

Macaron: Well, one of them … actually, there are some things I just can’t tell you. You know, because this kind of thing … If I were to tell you something too bleak, you know, the consequences would be unbearable.

Chai (V.O.): For Macaron’s safety, we have decided to omit the details of what happened. But one thing that we can confirm is that the two Russian soldiers, in the end, did not alter their principles.

Chai (V.O.): After being imprisoned for 21 days, a terrified Macaron made his escape while going to the toilet. He jumped from the third floor of an abandoned house and ran to another Russian military unit, where he demanded to be transferred away from his original commanding officer.

Chai: What if he’d retaliated against you, or done something else?

Macaron: Well, yeah, he did retaliate. He beat me up. [laughs nervously, then falls silent] Not just once, but twice. Not that I couldn’t fight back, but he had a gun.

Chai: Doesn’t that sort of thing strip away a soldier’s sense of pride?

Macaron: Sure it does. After the first time I was released from the pit, my will to fight was gone. Why would I want to fight for someone who throws me in a dungeon, someone who treats me like that? I felt like they had no respect for me at all.

Chai: Did you ever consider leaving the battlefield? Leaving for good, and going home?

Macaron: There was no way I could, and I don’t think the Chinese embassy would have helped me.

Chai (V.O.): Sun Ruiqi, the soldier who had shouted about certain victory on the battlefield, posted another video as he headed for the front.

[Video shows Sun Ruiqi and a large group of soldiers preparing to depart for the front. The uniformed soldiers all have blue duffel bags with them, and a troop transport truck is visible in the background.]

Sun: [speaking to the camera] We’re heading out. The whole unit is getting ready to move out.

Chai (V.O.): Not long afterward, Sun became a trending topic once more.

[Video of Sun Ruiqi, bundled in a heavy camouflage coat with a hood, buffeted by wind and snow.]

Sun: [breathing heavily] I trekked for almost 40 minutes through heavy snow just to get a signal so I could send this message. I contacted the Chinese Embassy in Russia [Moscow] and told them it was urgent, but they said it was a personal matter and couldn’t help me. So now I’m asking for help from the public, asking my fellow Chinese to contact the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I need to terminate my contract so I can go home for medical treatment. Around here, there are no medical facilities or medical equipment of any kind. I’m going to die here.

Chai: [speaking to Macaron again] Maybe the embassy considered it a personal matter, since you volunteered to come here and fight. You came on your own, without the support or approval of the Chinese government, so maybe they felt they weren’t in a position to intervene.

Macaron: Yeah, but I think some stuff, like what they show in those “Wolf Warrior” movies [which depict the Chinese military efficiently evacuating Chinese civilians abroad] is just totally fake.

[A promotional poster for the nationalistic military blockbuster “Wolf Warrior 2” shows lead actor Wu Jing holding a Chinese flag. This is followed by a video of Wu Jing—the writer, director, and star of the “Wolf Warrior” films—waxing patriotic.]

Wu: A Chinese passport is a ticket to safe passage. [pretending to hold up a Chinese passport] What does this say? It says Chinese people are the bomb.

Macaron: But when your actual citizens are in trouble … Sure, we volunteered to fight this war, but still … Take India, you know? There were a lot of Indians getting killed here, but then their Prime Minister Modi came and talked to Putin, and all the Indian mercenaries got sent home. Their contracts were terminated, and they were able to go home.

Chai (V.O.): A BBC report confirmed Macaron’s account. In July 2024, following reports of heavy Indian casualties and viral videos of Indian mercenaries begging for help, Indian Prime Minister Modi visited Moscow and discussed the matter with Putin. Two months later, over 90 Indian mercenaries were released from military service and sent home. Conversely, the Chinese mercenary known as Warden, who once said “I’m loyal to whoever pays me,” found that even after his contract expired, he wasn’t allowed to leave.

[Video of Warden speaking directly to the camera]

Warden: The boss called me in for a chat. He said my contract only ends once the war is won. They’re also planning to transfer me to head up the scariest of all the Storm Trooper units—the Black Mamba unit [a military unit made up of ex-convicts]. What’s he thinking? I don’t even know what to say about it. [pauses] But what the hell, I’ll go. I guess I’ll keep fighting until it’s over. I’m not the type to chicken out. I can’t afford to lose face. Two of my men deserted, and we’re hunting them down. If we catch them, they’re as good as dead. As for me? I’ll keep going. Cause I’m brave. No fear.

Chai (V.O.): Not long afterward, an announcement of Warden’s death was posted to his Douyin account, asking his followers to commemorate the passing of this “great international Communist warrior.” The video’s IP location was Henan province, where an assistant allegedly posted it. But his fans scarcely had time to mourn before a livestream surfaced, claiming that Warden had “come back to life,” used his martial wisdom to outwit the enemy, and beat a tactical retreat to Moscow. Sun Ruiqi also claimed to have made it back to China on his own. The details of how they returned remain unclear. Foreign media reports suggest that some mercenaries have shot themselves to escape from the front lines, while others have bribed their way out, but outright escape is nearly impossible. [Chinese]

The second half of the translation will be published soon.