Today, June 27, 2025, the world has learned about the dramatic fate of Van Wu—a 24-year-old from Benbu, Anhui Province, who was taken prisoner by fighters of the 82nd Separate Airborne Assault Brigade on the Toretsk direction. This case, captured in a well-known video featuring foreigners from the 102nd Regiment of the 150th Division, unveils the grim reality of recruitment and betrayal faced by those seeking a better life.

Known by the call sign “Sabre,” Van came to Russia to earn money for his parents but ended up signing a contract with the russian army in Ufa. Promised a rear-line role, he was instead sent almost immediately to the frontline—into a meat grinder assault near Toretsk. “I didn’t want to fight,” he admits, feeling deceived. His documents and communication devices were confiscated, and he was thrown into battle, where most of his foreign comrades perished in the first assault. Some died instantly, others succumbed to wounds without rescue.

Van recounts the deaths of his Chinese friends on the frontline and claims that his country has no interest in its citizens signing contracts with Russia, as China “wants peace.” These words starkly contrast with the reality of his exploitation as cannon fodder. Now a prisoner, he deeply regrets signing the contract and pleads with China to exchange him for Ukrainian soldiers, yearning only to return home.

Ukraine has repeatedly warned about the fate of foreigners recruited by Kremlin agents. The responsibility now falls on China—to bring its citizens back and prevent their deaths in a war they “do not support.”