Chinese POW Says TikToks Convinced Him to Join Russian Military

A Chinese prisoner in Ukraine said videos on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, enticed him to join Russia’s military.

The man, identified by Ukraine as 34-year-old Wang Guangjun, spoke to international and Ukrainian press in a two-hour press conference on Monday. He and another Chinese man described what they said was life in Russia’s armed forces and their eventual journey to the front lines.

Both men were captured in Donetsk, Ukraine said on Wednesday. Business Insider could not independently confirm the men’s statements, though they are consistent with what can be observed on Chinese social media.

Wang told the press in Mandarin that he was an “ordinary employee” in China who worked in rehabilitation therapy.

“My family can be considered a rather harmonious one, with a wife, with kids, with parents,” Wang said. “But because of China’s pandemic issues, I lost my job. So I was looking for any kind of work; that’s how I ended up in this situation.”

Wang said that while in China, he had watched “flashy and cool” videos on Douyin of Russian soldiers and weapons.

“Because in China, the status and social identity of a Chinese soldier is very high, especially in the hearts of the public,” Wang said. “So in China, every male has this dream of success.”

“When you are in China and have no chance of being a soldier, and you see this kind of opportunity, you feel a stirring of the heart,” he added. “And I came from that kind of motivation.”

Bytedance, the firm that owns Douyin and TikTok, did not respond to a request for comment sent by BI.

Rehab therapist on the front lines

Wang said he had seen a video promoting a job in Russia’s military that involved providing rehabilitation therapy to injured soldiers.

“It said that due to Russia’s last two years of fighting, there were a lot of injured people who needed us to administer rehabilitation therapy,” he said.

He added that the video promised that the role would not involve fighting against Ukraine.

“When I arrived in Moscow and reported for work, they also told me the same. But after I followed them to the recruitment office and signed up, and then went to the training camp, I was no longer in control of my situation,” he said. “At that point, I could no longer make my own decisions.”

Chinese social media platforms often feature pro-Russia videos — from Chechen special forces showing off captured NATO weapons to clips of young Russian soldiers labeled as “handsome big brothers.” State media often emphasizes Moscow and Beijing’s “no-limits” partnership.

Still, Wang said Chinese authorities had warned him not to cross into Russia for the job, which he did anyway. He and the other Chinese prisoner, identified as 27-year-old Zhang Renbo, said they were not associated with any Chinese security or armed forces.

Per Wang, he was given a few days of training in Moscow and then was sent in February to the Russian cities of Kazan and Rostov. He said he was eventually deployed to northern Donetsk on April 4, after which he was captured by Kyiv’s forces.

A tourist in the trenches

Meanwhile, Zhang told reporters that he worked as a firefighter in Shanghai and had traveled to Russia on vacation in December.

Zhang said he had tried to “earn a bit of money” while on holiday and that he was offered work in construction, but later realized that the job instead was actually in the warzone.

“The Chinese media and state media always emphasized our friendship with Russia, so we always have trusted them. Because of this trust, perhaps we have been taken advantage of,” Zhang said.

He said he was sent to Rostov in early January, where he received about six days of training, and was moved to Donetsk later. Zhang said he spent about a month in the trenches until March 31, after which he and two other soldiers were ordered to advance on the front lines and were captured.

Both Wang and Zhang said they agreed to speak publicly in the hope that China would notice their imprisonment and negotiate their return.

“If you are considering joining this war against Ukraine, to my fellow Chinese, do not participate in this fight,” Wang said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that his government believes more than 150 Chinese citizens are fighting in Ukraine for the Russian military.

“North Koreans were fighting against us in the Kursk region, while the Chinese were fighting against us in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on April 8.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, called Zelenskyy’s remarks “irresponsible.”

“The Chinese government always asks Chinese nationals to stay away from areas of armed conflict, avoid any form of involvement in armed conflict, and in particular avoid participation in any party’s military operations,” he said.