# INVESTIGATION: China Is Training Russian Soldiers for the War in Ukraine — The EU Has Proof

> On June 15, 2026, in Luxembourg, following a meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, Kaja Kallas — the EU High

- Author: Maxime Marquette
- Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co)
- Section: Investigation
- Published: 2026-06-22
- Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/enquete-la-chine-entraine-des-soldats-russes-pour-la-guerre-en-ukraine-l-ue-a-le-2

## Introduction: When Beijing Ceases to Be a Spectator

### A Statement That Changes Everything

On **June 15, 2026**, in Luxembourg, following a meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, **Kaja Kallas** — the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy — delivered a sentence that hit Western chancelleries like a bombshell. Not a hypothesis. Not a rumor. A confirmation. Her exact words: **"We have now verified reports that the Chinese military has trained Russian military personnel to fight in Ukraine. We are carefully assessing the implications."** In a few seconds, years of comfortable denial were shattered. China wasn't just watching. China was participating.

This statement did not emerge from a vacuum. It confirmed an investigation published in May 2026 by **Reuters**, citing three European intelligence agencies and classified documents directly examined by the agency's journalists. The investigation revealed that **approximately 200 Russian military personnel** had been secretly trained on Chinese territory at the end of 2025, under a **bilateral Russo-Chinese agreement signed in Beijing on July 2, 2025**, by senior officers from both countries. Once trained, some of these soldiers returned to fight in Ukraine. The mask of Chinese neutrality had officially fallen.

### A Context of Progressive Escalation

To understand the seismic shift caused by this revelation, one must place the facts in context. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, **Beijing has systematically maintained a posture of public neutrality**, presenting itself as a potential mediator while refusing to condemn Russian aggression at the United Nations. Meanwhile, mounting evidence suggested growing complicity. **Chinese electronic components** were being found in Russian Shahed drones. Chinese companies were fueling the Kremlin's war machine with microelectronics, machine tools, and precision parts. **Western sanctions against Russia** were being systematically bypassed through logistical networks transiting via Chinese intermediaries.

But training soldiers — that is another dimension entirely. Not hardware. Men. Skills. A direct transfer of operational military know-how. While the delivery of components could still be characterized as **indirect support**, instructing combatants who then return to the Ukrainian front is **active participation in the war**. This is what European intelligence services have confirmed. This is what **Kaja Kallas** said publicly. And this is what **Beijing virulently denies**, calling these claims "pure slander and defamation."

*I’ll be blunt: this revelation doesn't surprise me, but it still chills me to the bone. I’ve been watching the rise of the Sino-Russian axis with growing concern for years, knowing that Beijing’s denials were worth next to nothing. But seeing European intelligence services confirm in black and white that Chinese soldiers have trained Russians who are currently fighting in Ukraine — that is a paradigm shift. This is no longer a Russo-Ukrainian war with peripheral complicities. This is a war in which China has gotten its hands dirty, militarily and directly. And the West cannot pretend it hasn't seen it.*

## The Established Facts: What Intelligence Services Discovered

### A Secret Agreement Signed in Beijing

It all starts with a document. According to the **Reuters** investigation published in May 2026 — cited and validated by Kallas herself — a bilateral Russo-Chinese military agreement was signed in **Beijing on July 2, 2025**. This document, written in Russian and Chinese, detailed the terms of a cross-training program: Russian military personnel would be trained at **People's Liberation Army (PLA)** bases in China, while a contingent of Chinese soldiers would receive training in Russia. What intelligence sources highlighted as particularly significant: it was the **training of Russians on Chinese soil** that constituted the real qualitative leap in cooperation between the two armies.

The agreement provided for the hosting of approximately **200 Russian military personnel** at military facilities located notably in **Beijing and the city of Nanjing**, in eastern China. According to the German newspaper **Die Welt**, which also investigated this case citing independent sources, the training actually spanned **six different military sites** across Chinese territory. The participants held various ranks, ranging from **staff sergeant to lieutenant colonel** — a range that covers both field combatants and officers capable of subsequently transmitting this knowledge through the Russian chain of command.

### Training Focused on the Decisive Weapons of the Conflict

The content of the training is particularly revealing of Russian military priorities in Ukraine. According to documents examined by **Reuters** and European intelligence agency sources, the programs notably covered: the use of **FPV drones and several types of unmanned aerial systems**, **electronic warfare** and anti-drone systems, **military aviation**, **armored infantry operations**, as well as demining and the neutralization of improvised explosive devices. One training session at the **PLA Military University of Engineering** specifically focused on explosives and disposal techniques. Another, at the **PLA Military Aviation Training Center**, used multimedia presentations and flight simulators for drone training.

The presence of members of the **Rubicon battalion** among the trainees is particularly significant. Rubicon is an **elite Russian unit specializing in drone warfare**, active on the Ukrainian front. According to **Die Welt**, after completing their training in China, dozens of members of this unit and other trainees took part in **combat operations in Ukraine in early 2026**, with some holding **command positions**. A European intelligence agency cited by Reuters specified that it had identified Russian military personnel who had undergone this training and confirmed their subsequent participation in **drone combat operations in occupied Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia region**.

*We often talk about drone warfare as an abstract technological revolution. But these figures give it a concrete and disturbing face. Russian soldiers went to train at Chinese military bases, learned to pilot FPVs, were initiated into the electronic warfare techniques that jam and destroy Ukrainian drones, and then returned to kill Ukrainians in Crimea and Zaporizhzhia. China didn't just provide components. It trained killers. The nuance is immense, and the West would do well to integrate it into its global strategy toward Beijing.*

## The Role of European Intelligence Services

### Three Agencies, Documents, a Shared Conviction

One of the most solid aspects of this affair is the **plurality of intelligence sources** that contributed to establishing the facts. Reuters cited **three distinct European intelligence agencies** in its May 2026 investigation. This number is not trivial: in the intelligence world, corroboration by several independent services is an indicator of high reliability. These three agencies did not just share suspicions or guesses — they had access to **documents examined directly by Reuters journalists**, notably the bilateral Russo-Chinese agreement of July 2, 2025, and **internal Russian military documents** describing the training sessions.

A senior EU official, cited by **Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty** and picked up by Militarnyi on June 12, 2026, was particularly explicit about the nature of what was discovered: **"We have already confirmed, or are in the process of confirming, that China has trained Russian soldiers, some of whom were directly involved in the war against Ukraine. Based on the figures I have seen, we are talking about hundreds of people."** This same official insisted that this was not **indirect support**, but **direct training of military personnel** — a crucial distinction in terms of international law and diplomatic implications.

### What Internal Documents Further Reveal

The **internal Russian military documents** examined by Reuters describe several distinct training sessions held in Chinese military facilities between **November and December 2025**. One course reportedly trained Russian soldiers in the combined use of **drones and 82 mm mortars**, a lethal combination on the Ukrainian battlefield where artillerymen now use drones to guide their fire. Another session focused on **anti-drone electronic warfare rifles** and close-range air defense systems — equipment that Russia uses massively to neutralize Ukrainian drones. Several of the Russian military personnel trained in China were themselves **military instructors** capable of redistributing this know-how within the Russian chain of command, thereby multiplying the effect of the initial training.

**Ukrainska Pravda**, which published an investigation on June 12, 2026, citing a senior European official in Brussels, reported an additional detail of importance: this information **contradicted what the Chinese side had previously communicated to the European Union**. In other words, Beijing had lied to European diplomats. It was precisely this contradiction between the assurances given by China and the evidence accumulated by intelligence services that prompted Kaja Kallas to make a public statement on June 15, rather than handling the matter solely through discreet diplomatic channels.

*This detail — that China lied to the EU face-to-face — is, for me, the most revealing part of this whole affair. It’s not just that Beijing is helping Moscow. It’s that Beijing is deliberately lying to its European interlocutors while continuing to present itself as a strategic trade partner and an actor for world peace. This systemic duplicity should be at the heart of any Western reassessment of the relationship with China. You don’t negotiate in good faith with someone who looks you in the eye and lies to you.*

## Beijing's Reaction: The Denial Playbook

### A Predictable and Hollow Response

Beijing's response to Kaja Kallas's statements followed the **usual Chinese playbook of denial** in the face of embarrassing accusations. On **June 16, 2026**, Foreign Ministry spokesperson **Lin Jian** stated during a regular press conference in Beijing: **"The claims in question have no factual basis. They are pure slander and defamation."** No explanation. No counter-evidence presented. No request for a joint investigation to establish the truth. Just a categorical negation, formulated in the language of controlled diplomatic indignation that Beijing systematically uses when faced with compromising accusations.

This was not the first time China had denied it. In May 2026, when Reuters published its initial investigation, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already claimed that this information constituted **"an attempt to shift the responsibility for the war onto China"** and that Beijing maintained **"an objective and impartial position on the Ukrainian crisis."** The same week Kallas made her statement, China organized an **opening ceremony in Beijing for a program co-organized with the United Nations** on small arms control — a calendar coincidence that perfectly illustrates the facade strategy Beijing cultivates: displaying the image of a responsible partner for international peace while fueling, in the shadows, Moscow's war machine.

### Russia: The Great Absentee

Moscow's attitude toward this affair is almost as revealing as Beijing's. **Russia did not directly respond** to Kaja Kallas's statements of June 15, 2026. This silence is not insignificant. In the Kremlin's disinformation architecture, strategic silence is often preferred over blunt negation, especially when negation could be too easily disproved by documented evidence. By not denying, **Moscow avoids further fueling the debate** and leaves Beijing with the burden of defense — a division of roles that reveals the depth of coordination between the two capitals.

It should also be noted that the agreement of July 2, 2025, provided for **reciprocal training**: Chinese military personnel were also to receive instruction in Russia. According to several sources, **approximately 600 Chinese soldiers** traveled to Russia last year to receive training in armored warfare, artillery operations, and air defense systems. This aspect is less publicized, but it reveals that this agreement was not a unilateral favor from China to Russia — it was a **mutually beneficial exchange of military skills**, in which Moscow passed on to the PLA **real-world combat lessons** learned on the Ukrainian front, the most intense theater of war since the Cold War.

*The fact that 600 Chinese soldiers went to train in Russia is almost unmentioned in major Western media. Yet, it is perhaps the most strategically worrying detail of this whole affair. China isn't just doing a favor for a struggling partner. It is absorbing the lessons of a modern total war, involving drones, electronic warfare, and urban combat, to incorporate them into its own military doctrine. Toward what end? Everyone knows the answer: Taiwan.*

## Material Evidence: Chinese Drones and Components

### 65% Foreign Components in Russian Drones: The Damning Figure

The training of Russian soldiers in China is part of a context of **growing Russian military dependence** on Chinese industries. In May 2026, technical analyses established that Chinese-origin components now represented **65% of all foreign components** found in Russian Shahed drones — surpassing American parts for the first time, which are now a minority in these engines of destruction. This statistic illustrates the **progressive substitution of Western technologies with Chinese alternatives** in the Russian arsenal, as Western sanctions bite and Moscow turns resolutely toward Beijing.

The **company Shenzhen Minghuaxin** and the **Xinxiang Richful Lubricant Additive Company** are among the Chinese actors directly sanctioned by the EU on June 15, 2026 — the same day as Kallas's statement. The former was accused of supplying **drone components** to the Russian army, the latter of supplying Russian forces with **chemical additives for mechanical lubricants** used in military vehicles. These sanctions, included in the **restricted package of EU restrictive measures** adopted that day, targeted a total of companies in several countries, including two manufacturers based in mainland China and two maritime transport companies based in Hong Kong.

### A Sophisticated Circumvention Network

Chinese material support for the Russian war effort does not only come through direct deliveries. **David O'Sullivan**, the EU's sanctions coordinator, told Euronews in early June 2026 that China has mastered the art of **"backfilling"** — a process by which local producers gradually replace goods previously supplied by international partners now under sanctions. This mechanism covers fields ranging from everyday consumer goods to **high-tech military equipment**, notably electronic components used in drones, missiles, and artillery shields. According to O'Sullivan, China constitutes **a major challenge to the effectiveness of European sanctions against Russia**.

A report published in July 2025 by Reuters had already revealed a concrete example of this circumvention: Chinese companies were secretly delivering **engines to the Russian state-owned arms manufacturer IEMZ Kupol**, disguising them as **"industrial refrigeration units"** to deceive customs. These deliveries allowed IEMZ Kupol to **significantly increase its production of the Garpiya-A1 attack drone**, used against military and civilian targets in Ukraine. Behind the facade of neutrality, a logistical chain of active complicity.

*What strikes me about this architecture of Chinese support is how systematic it is. This isn't the work of a few rogue companies operating in gray zones. It’s a coherent policy: supply components, bypass sanctions, train soldiers, absorb combat lessons. Each link strengthens the next. And meanwhile, some in the West are still wondering about the appropriateness of an economic confrontation with Beijing. The confrontation has already begun — from the other side.*

## The EU's Position: From Caution to Confrontation

### A Turning Point in European Rhetoric

**Kaja Kallas’s** statement on June 15, 2026, represents a **significant turning point** in how the European Union publicly addresses China on the Ukrainian issue. For months, even years, European officials had chosen discreet diplomatic routes, muted warnings, and calls for dialogue. This caution responded to an economic reality: China is the **EU's leading trade partner**, and an open confrontation would have considerable economic repercussions. But patience has limits. When intelligence services from several member states landed on ministers' desks with **documented proof of direct military training**, diplomatic silence was no longer tenable.

The EU adopted its **twentieth package of sanctions against Russia** in June 2026, targeting 56 companies involved in the production and delivery of military goods used on the Ukrainian battlefield — including a large number of Chinese companies. This sanctions package illustrates the evolution of the European consensus: **Beijing is no longer considered a neutral third party** but an **active facilitator** of Russian aggression. The question now facing Brussels is that of the **implications** — a term used by Kallas herself — meaning the additional measures the EU could take in the face of this proven military complicity.

### Internal Divisions and Economic Calculations

However, Europe is not united on the path forward regarding China. Some member states, particularly those with significant exports to China, are reluctant to push the logic of sanctions to its conclusion. Others in the eastern part of the Union — the Baltic states, Poland, Czechia — have long advocated for a much firmer approach toward Beijing. Kallas's **confirmation of military training** gives new weight to the arguments of the hardliners, but it does not resolve the internal tensions between economic sovereignty and geopolitical solidarity. This debate will play out over the coming months as the EU **assesses the implications** announced by its foreign policy chief.

One element further complicates the picture: Germany, the EU's largest economy, is itself going through a **period of redefining its policy toward China**. Berlin realized — late — its energy dependence on Russia and is seeking not to repeat the same strategic mistake with China. The German government was also one of the most active in intelligence investigations into the training of Russian soldiers in China, and **Die Welt** played a pioneering role in revealing this case in Germany.

*I understand the economic constraints weighing on European capitals regarding Beijing. I really do. But I remember hearing exactly the same arguments about Russia and natural gas until February 24, 2022. Europe paid the price for its illusions about Putin. It cannot afford to repeat the same mistake with Xi Jinping. The evidence of direct military complicity is on the table. The time for short-term calculations is over — this is a question of long-term strategic survival.*

## Kaja Kallas: The Voice of an Awakening Europe

### The Former Prime Minister of a Country That Knows Russia

**Kaja Kallas** is not a Brussels technocrat disconnected from the realities of war. As the former Prime Minister of **Estonia** — a country that shares a border with Russia and whose history is marked by Soviet occupation — she took the helm of European diplomacy with a visceral understanding of the Russian threat and a **total lack of illusions** regarding Putin's intentions. Her statement on June 15, 2026, was not the result of improvisation or political calculation. It was the product of a deep conviction, supported by solid evidence, that the EU had a duty to name things clearly.

The phrasing chosen by Kallas — **"Beijing remains a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine"** — is one of the most direct statements an EU official has made about China since the start of the conflict. It puts an end, at least officially, to the constructive ambiguity that had characterized the European position toward Beijing. The EU is now saying, in black and white, that China **enables Russia to continue its war** — and that it goes even further by directly training its soldiers.

### The United Nations: Powerless Witnesses

In the hours following Kallas's statement, UN spokesperson **Stéphane Dujarric** was questioned during a regular press conference in New York. His response was characteristic of the institution: **"We have no way to confirm or deny these reports,"** he said, adding that the war required a **reduction in soldiers and outside interference**, not an increase. This phrasing, typically UN-like in its careful balance, illustrates the limits of an organization paralyzed by the veto rights of its permanent members — including China and Russia — in the face of major geopolitical crises.

**Ukraine**, for its part, has long integrated Chinese complicity into its strategic analysis. President **Volodymyr Zelenskyy** himself had sanctioned, in the preceding months, dozens of individuals and entities accused of supporting the Russian defense industry, including Chinese nationals and companies. The official confirmation by the EU of military training strengthens the Ukrainian position and could provide a legal and political basis for requests for more binding measures toward Beijing.

*When I see the United Nations "unable to confirm or deny" what three European intelligence agencies and the EU's foreign policy chief have established with supporting documents, I feel deep frustration. The UN was designed to protect world peace. But with Russia and China as permanent members of the Security Council, it is structurally incapable of acting against this complicity. The West must stop waiting for a UN validation that will never come and act according to its own structures — NATO, the EU, the G7.*

## The July 2, 2025 Agreement: Anatomy of a Secret Pact

### A Military Agreement in Line with Sino-Russian Exchanges

The agreement signed in **Beijing on July 2, 2025**, by senior officers from both countries did not appear in a vacuum. It is part of a long series of exchanges and joint military exercises between China and Russia, which have intensified since 2022. But there is a fundamental difference: previous joint exercises — like the **Joint Sea** naval maneuvers or land exercises in the Far East — were public, officially announced, and presented as routine strategic cooperation demonstrations. The July 2, 2025 agreement, however, was **secret**. It was not announced. It was not presented to the Chinese Parliament or the Russian National Assembly. It was signed and implemented in hiding.

The secret nature of this agreement is in itself a confession. If China is truly neutral in the Ukrainian conflict as it claims, why would it need to conceal a military training program with Russia? The obvious answer is that it knew the revelation of this agreement would place it in an untenable diplomatic and economic position. Beijing wanted to **have its cake and eat it too**: militarily support its Russian partner while maintaining its trade relations with Western economies. The revelation of the agreement by European intelligence shattered this calculation.

### The Role of the Chinese Drone Industry

Beyond the formal military agreement, the training of Russian soldiers in China benefited from a considerable asset: access to the technologies and capabilities of the **Chinese civilian and military drone industry**, the most advanced and productive in the world. According to sources cited by Militarnyi, the Russian trainees had access to **modern technologies and simulators** developed by the Chinese drone industry for operator training. China possesses companies like **DJI** — whose drones have been used by both sides in Ukraine — and an entire ecosystem of military drone manufacturers that have accumulated considerable expertise. Directly transferring this expertise to the Russian army constitutes a **decisive contribution to maintaining and improving Russian combat capabilities**.

This technological dimension goes beyond simple training. The training programs allowed Russian soldiers to be **introduced to the latest developments** in drones, electronic countermeasures, and employment doctrines developed within the context of the People's Liberation Army. Upon returning to Russia or the Ukrainian front, these soldiers became **vectors of technology transfer** between the PLA and the Russian army — a process far more effective than simple equipment delivery.

*We systematically underestimate the impact of transferring know-how. You can inspect, reproduce, or copy an electronic component. But a tactical doctrine, a combat technique integrated into the flesh and reflexes of a military instructor who returns to his regiment — that spreads like a virus through the entire chain of command. These Russians trained in China are skill multipliers. And Ukraine feels that on the battlefield every day.*

## Impact on the Ukrainian Battlefield

### Soldiers Identified in Crimea and Zaporizhzhia

The evidence does not remain at the level of abstract agreements and training. A **European intelligence agency** cited by Reuters has established **concrete identifications**: specific Russian military personnel who underwent training in China were found to be involved in **drone combat operations** in **occupied Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia region**. These two areas are among the most active in the conflict, particularly regarding drone warfare: Crimea serves as a rear base for Russian attack drones, while Zaporizhzhia is one of the most contested front lines, where both sides use unmanned aerial systems massively for reconnaissance, attack, and artillery guidance.

The identification of these specific soldiers constitutes the most direct and irrefutable proof of the **link between training in China and the impact on the Ukrainian battlefield**. It is no longer a logical inference — it is an established traceability. Men were trained in Beijing and Nanjing. These same men were identified piloting drones against Ukrainian positions in Crimea and Zaporizhzhia. The loop is closed. And it was precisely this traceability that convinced Kaja Kallas to abandon diplomatic reserve and publicly name Chinese responsibility.

### Toward a Lasting Drone Superiority for Moscow?

The strategic question now is the **durability and scale** of this advantage acquired by Russia through training in China. While 200 initially trained soldiers represent a limited impact in terms of numbers, the **multiplying dynamic** mentioned earlier changes the equation. If these soldiers return to their units and transmit their skills to their comrades — as is the norm for military instructors — the actual number of Russian combatants indirectly benefiting from Chinese training could be **several times higher** than the 200 direct trainees. **Die Welt** reported that members of the elite Rubicon battalion, specialized in drones, had participated in the training — combatants who, by definition, are intended to train other combatants.

**Ukraine** is not without resources to respond to this development. Kyiv has developed a remarkable drone industry since 2022, and its operators have also accumulated irreplaceable real-world combat experience. But Russia's **numerical and industrial superiority**, supported by the Chinese industry, constitutes a structural challenge that Ukraine cannot overcome alone. That is why Western support — in hardware, funding, and intelligence sharing — remains more vital than ever.

*There is something absurd and revolting about this situation. Ukraine is fighting for its survival against a Russian army being trained by the world's second military power. And meanwhile, debates in the West still focus on aid amounts, internal political conditions, and electoral balances. Zelenskyy is fighting with both hands tied behind his back while Putin receives professional coaching from Xi Jinping. The inequality of this conflict is scandalous.*

## Implications for EU Foreign Policy Toward Beijing

### The End of Strategic Ambiguity

**Kaja Kallas’s** statement sounds the **death knell for European strategic ambiguity** toward China on the Ukrainian file. For four years, the EU had attempted to maintain an uncomfortable position: strongly condemning the Russian invasion while managing China to preserve economic relations and hoping to turn it into a mediator. This position only held if China respected a certain line — not providing weapons, not supporting Russia directly militarily. The confirmation of direct military training crosses this line in an unquestionable way.

The EU will now have to **reassess its entire relationship with Beijing** in light of these revelations. This reassessment touches on several dimensions: **economic sanctions** (should they go further than the June 15 measures?), **technological investments** (should decoupling in strategic sectors be accelerated?), and **academic and scientific exchanges** (should collaborations in dual-use civil-military fields be restricted?). These questions will not have simple answers, but the bar has clearly been raised.

### Trump, NATO, and the Great Western Balance

This affair comes in a particular American geopolitical context. The **United States under the Trump administration** has adopted an ambivalent posture toward China — tough on trade and technology, but less clearly aligned than the Biden administration on support for Ukraine. Dorothy Shea, the American representative to the United Nations, had indeed urged China to stop providing Russia with dual-use goods in May 2026. But Trump’s transactional approach complicates coordination between Washington and Brussels on global strategy toward the Sino-Russian axis. **NATO**, which has integrated China into its threat analyses since its Vilnius summit in 2023, will have to take this into account in its upcoming strategic decisions.

What is clear is that Europe can no longer wait for Washington to define the line of conduct toward Beijing. The **EU's capacity for autonomous action** — in terms of sanctions, investment regulation, and technological policy — will have to assert itself more. Paradoxically, the Russo-Chinese military training case is also an opportunity for Brussels to **clarify and strengthen its own strategic identity** in an increasingly dangerous multipolar world.

*Trump is a necessary evil — I stand by that phrase. He forced Europe to take responsibility for itself militarily, to increase its defense budgets, and to stop relying on the American umbrella as a given. And regarding China, paradoxically, his trade toughness also produced useful effects. But his unpredictability and his penchant for bilateral deals with autocracies deeply worry me. The West needs a coherent and lasting strategy against the Beijing-Moscow axis, not a series of tweets. The EU must be that backbone.*

## China as a Systemic Threat to the Western Order

### Beyond Ukraine: Beijing's Long-Term Vision

The Russo-Chinese military training case cannot be understood in all its depth without placing it within **Xi Jinping's long-term geopolitical vision**. China is not supporting Russia in Ukraine out of ideological sympathy or Soviet-style reflex. It does so because the weakening of the West — economically, militarily, psychologically — serves its global strategic interests. A West exhausted by years of war in Europe is a West less capable of reacting to a potential military action against Taiwan or in the South China Sea. It is a **strategy of indirect destabilization** that is perfectly rational from Beijing's perspective.

The **Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA)** published a comprehensive report in June 2026 titled The China-Russia Authoritarian Meta-Threat, which maps the architecture of this combined threat. The report highlights that thousands of Chinese companies are fueling the Russian war machine in a way that allows the Kremlin to continue its attacks against Ukraine. It also notes **dual-use technological cooperation** in the space and satellite navigation fields, notably the integration between the Chinese BeiDou system and the Russian GLONASS system since 2022. This is not just an opportunistic alliance: it is a **lasting strategic symbiosis** between two revisionist powers determined to end the liberal international order.

### Iran, North Korea: Allies in the Shadows

The dimension of the threat becomes even more striking when one considers that the Sino-Russian axis is not isolated. **Iran** has supplied Russia with hundreds of Shahed drones since 2022, and in March 2026, reports suggested that Russian forces were transmitting intelligence to Tehran on American military assets in the region — a geostrategic cooperation that far exceeds the Ukrainian framework. **North Korea** has supplied hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Russia and has deployed soldiers in support of Russian forces. These actors form a **coalition of illiberal states** determined to erode the West's capabilities and will to defend the rules-based order.

**Ukraine** is at the center of this storm — both a direct victim and a laboratory of resistance. Kyiv's contribution to the collective understanding of Iranian threats, notably sharing its expertise in countermeasures against Tehran's drones, illustrates the global dimension of the conflict. **Zelenskyy** understood this long ago: the war in Ukraine is not a regional war. It is the front line of the confrontation between democracies and autocracies. And the training of Russian soldiers in China is the most recent and concrete evidence that this confrontation now directly involves the world's largest authoritarian power.

*I often say that China is the greatest threat to the West, and I sometimes see eyebrows raised. "Russia is invading Europe!" — yes, but Russia could not have continued this war without Chinese support in components, technology, implicit funding, and now direct military training. Withdraw Chinese support, and the Russian war machine withers within months. China is the pillar upon which the entire architecture of Russian aggression rests. It is the primary threat, even if it is the less visible one.*

## What This Revelation Changes for European Security

### A Precedent for International Law

The official confirmation by the EU that China has trained Russian soldiers who subsequently fight against Ukraine raises profound questions of **international law**. Does it constitute a form of **indirect participation in the armed conflict**? International legal doctrine is nuanced on this point: military training provided to a belligerent state can, depending on the circumstances, be considered a form of **complicity in an act of aggression** within the meaning of the United Nations Charter. If this thesis were accepted by international legal bodies — however hypothetical that may seem today — it would open up possibilities for legal responses and sanctions of an unprecedented scale.

On a more practical level of security policy, this revelation should force a **reassessment of interoperability and technology transfer strategies** with China in sensitive areas. European countries like **France and Germany** still had, until recently, academic and industrial cooperation with Chinese institutions in potentially dual-use fields. The confirmation that the PLA is directly training Russian soldiers for a war in Europe should accelerate the filtering and restriction processes in these areas.

### The Future of the Sino-European Relationship

The fundamental question for the future is the **nature of the Sino-European relationship**. For years, the EU has defined China simultaneously as a partner, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival — a three-sided formula that allowed it to keep all options open. But the revelation of direct military training makes this formula increasingly difficult to maintain. How can one maintain a sincere partnership with a state that trains the soldiers of the one bombing hospitals and schools in Ukraine?

Europe is at a moment of truth. It can choose **short-term convenience** — preserving trade, avoiding escalation, hoping Beijing self-corrects — or it can choose **long-term strategic coherence**, accepting the economic costs of a more distant and conditional relationship with China. The history of the relationship with Russia shows the price paid for choosing convenience. **Kaja Kallas** has made her choice. The question is whether the 27 EU member states will follow her to the end.

*I am not naive: I know that "cutting ties with China" is not a realistic option in the short term. Economic interdependence is massive, and the consequences of a rupture would be painful for everyone. But I firmly believe there is a middle ground between total partnership and all-out economic war — a path that involves clearly naming things, imposing targeted costs, decoupling strategic sectors, and building alternatives. This path exists. It requires political will. And Kallas's statement is perhaps the moment Europe truly begins to take it.*

## The Question of Precedent: What Does This Agreement Reveal About Beijing's Strategy?

### A Model for Future Conflicts

Beyond the Ukrainian conflict, the July 2, 2025 agreement and the training that resulted from it constitute a **disturbing model** for future conflicts involving allies or partners of China. The PLA has accumulated unprecedented experience in this process: it has trained a foreign army in a context of real conflict, transmitted its own doctrines and technologies, and observed their results on a real battlefield. This **feedback loop** between the training provided in China and the lessons learned from the Ukrainian front is a gold mine for the development of Chinese military doctrine.

This precedent should concern US allies in the Indo-Pacific region. If China is willing to directly train Russian soldiers for a war in Europe, it could apply a similar model in other contexts — for example, by supporting forces hostile to Taiwan, the Philippines, or in the South China Sea, while maintaining a facade of official neutrality. The **plausible deniability** that Beijing attempted to maintain in the Ukrainian case has been pierced by European intelligence. But the intention to maintain this facade reveals a deliberate strategy of clandestine military cooperation that the West must anticipate.

### Sanctions: First Signals, Not a Final Solution

The **sanctions adopted by the EU on June 15, 2026**, against Chinese companies — Shenzhen Minghuaxin and Xinxiang Richful Lubricant Additive Company for the mainland firms, plus two maritime transport companies based in Hong Kong — constitute a clear first signal. But they remain limited given the scale of Chinese support for the Russian war effort. Other measures are expected in the coming weeks and months as the EU **assesses the implications** announced by Kallas. Current discussions notably concern broader restrictions on Chinese technological investments in Europe, as well as strengthening export controls for dual-use goods likely to transit to Russia via China.

The **Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA)** has argued for a more integrated approach: viewing the China-Russia threat not as two separate problems, but as a single **meta-authoritarian threat** requiring a coherent and coordinated strategic response from the entire West. This approach implies close coordination between EU sanctions, US technological restrictions under the CHIPS and Export Controls laws, and allied industrial policies aimed at reducing critical dependencies on Chinese supply chains in defense sectors.

*Sanctions are necessary but insufficient. I repeat this every time, and I will continue to do so. The real lever is technological and industrial decoupling. As long as the West depends on China for its rare earths, batteries, electronic components, and solar panels, we are indirectly financing the machine that trains Putin's soldiers. The real answer is to rebuild our supply chains, invest in our own critical industries, and treat dependence on Beijing as the national security risk it is. It’s long, it’s expensive, it’s indispensable.*

## Conclusion: The Moment of Truth for the West Facing the Sino-Russian Axis

### Evidence That Changes the Game

The revelations about the training of Russian soldiers by the Chinese military constitute a **historic turning point** in our understanding of the Ukrainian conflict and Beijing's global strategy. This is no longer just a war between Russia and Ukraine, supported by the West on one side and supplied with hardware by China on the other. It is now a conflict in which the **world's second military power has directly placed its skills and training infrastructure at the service of the Russian aggressor**. The official confirmation by the European Union, with documented evidence from three independent intelligence agencies and written agreements signed at the highest military level, is indisputable. China can scream slander all it wants: the documents exist, the soldiers have been identified, the combat in Crimea and Zaporizhzhia took place.

The **Western response** must be up to the scale of this revelation. The targeted sanctions of June 15, 2026, are a start — but only a start. The assessment of implications announced by Kallas must lead to a coherent and lasting strategy that treats China for what it is now officially recognized to be: an **active and decisive enabler of Russian aggression** against Ukraine and, by extension, against the European and Western security order. This strategy must combine economic sanctions, technological decoupling, strengthening European defense capabilities, and close coordination with American and Indo-Pacific allies.

### Ukraine Is Holding — The West Must Hold Too

**Volodymyr Zelenskyy** and the Ukrainian people have been resisting aggression for over four years that few believed could last. They do so knowing that the West's core values — its institutions, its freedom — are also at stake in their fight. The revelation that China has trained Russian soldiers must not discourage Ukraine or its supporters. On the contrary, it must strengthen the **collective determination of the West** to support Kyiv, to impose increasing costs on all those participating in this aggression, and to build a security architecture capable of facing the systemic threat represented by the Sino-Russian axis. History will judge those who watched the evidence mount and continued to close their eyes. **The hour of lucidity** is now.

**By Maxime Marquette, columnist**

## Columnist's transparency note

### Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events.

### Method and sources

This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here.

**Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies.

**Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations.

When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**.

### Nature of the analysis

The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted.

My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors.

This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text.

## Sources

### Sources primaires

- [The Straits Times — EU says China trained Russian troops to fight in Ukraine war — June 16, 2026](https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/eu-says-china-trained-russian-troops-to-fight-in-ukraine-war)

- [Ukrainska Pravda — EU finds evidence of China training Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine — June 12, 2026](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/06/12/8039041/)

- [Interfax-Ukraine — Kallas: EU confirms China training Russian military personnel for war in Ukraine — June 15, 2026](https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/1176664.html)

### Sources secondaires

- [Militarnyi — EU Officials Confirm Training of Russian Military Personnel in China — June 12, 2026](https://militarnyi.com/en/news/eu-confirm-training-russian-military-china/)

- [South China Morning Post — EU says China trained Russian troops as bloc weighs tougher stance on Beijing — June 15, 2026](https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3357208/eu-says-china-trained-russian-troops-bloc-weighs-tougher-stance-beijing)

- [Bloomberg — EU Says China Trained Russian Troops to Fight in Ukraine War — June 16, 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-16/eu-says-china-trained-russian-troops-to-fight-in-ukraine-war)

- [U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission — China's Position on Russia's Invasion of Ukraine (updated June 17, 2026)](https://www.uscc.gov/research/chinas-position-russias-invasion-ukraine)

- [CEPA — The China-Russia Authoritarian Meta-Threat: The Architecture of Authoritarian Power — June 4, 2026](https://cepa.org/comprehensive-reports/the-china-russia-meta-threat-the-architecture-of-authoritarian-power/)

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Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/enquete-la-chine-entraine-des-soldats-russes-pour-la-guerre-en-ukraine-l-ue-a-le-2