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Skip next section What you need to knowWhat you need to knowYesterday, Ukraine said it had captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian troops, and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said there was evidence that “many more Chinese citizens” were fighting.
Meanwhile, the fighting in Ukraine goes on, with reports of overnight drone strikes from both Ukrainian and Russian forces.
This is a roundup of the latest developments on Russia’s war in Ukraine on Wednesday, April 9, 2025:
Skip next section Ukrainian commander confirms ‘de facto’ start of new Russian offensiveApril 9, 2025
Ukrainian commander confirms ‘de facto’ start of new Russian offensive The Russian army has “de facto” launched an offensive on the northeastern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, according to Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“For almost a week now, we have been observing a near-doubling of enemy attacks on all main frontiers,” Syrskyi said.
According to the general, the Russian goal remains to create a buffer zone along the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced for the first time on Monday that Ukrainian forces were operating in the Russian region of Belgorod. He added that activities also continued in the neighboring region of Kursk, where incursions first occurred in early August.
Zelenskyy explained that the operations inside Russia were aimed at protecting the Ukrainian border regions, particularly Kharkiv and Sumy.
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Skip next section Lithuania is not surprised by capture of Chinese in UkraineApril 9, 2025
Lithuania is not surprised by capture of Chinese in UkraineLithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said she is not surprised by Ukraine’s statement that two Chinese men had been captured fighting alongside Russian forces.
“China’s very active involvement in supporting Russia — both financially, politically and in other ways — should leave no doubt about China’s role, its goals, and the effectiveness of this team of the Axis of Evil,” she said in Vilnius.
If confirmed, the incident would be another “illustrative example” of Kremlin-Beijing cooperation, she added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese citizens fighting with the Russian army.
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Skip next section Russia complains about diplomat’s detention at French borderApril 9, 2025
Russia complains about diplomat’s detention at French borderRussia sent a note of protest to the French Foreign Ministry and summoned the country’s ambassador in Moscow to complain after a Russian diplomat was detained by border guards at a Paris airport, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
“As a result of the demarches undertaken, our colleague was ultimately allowed to enter the country, but she had to spend a day in the border zone of the airport. We do not intend to leave this without consequences,” Zakharova said.
According to Zakharova, the Russian official was travelling to France on April 6 as part of an official delegation and had been given a French visa.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the detention was “absolutely unacceptable”, and “further aggravates” relations between France and Russia.
There was no immediate response from Paris. Relations between France and Russia have reached a new low in recent weeks as Moscow intensifies its criticism of Europe and French President Emmanuel Macron over his support for Ukraine.
France’s Haddad: ‘Europe needs to wake up’To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
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Skip next section Beijing denies Ukrainian claims of ‘many’ Chinese fighting for RussiaApril 9, 2025
Beijing denies Ukrainian claims of ‘many’ Chinese fighting for RussiaChina has rejected Ukrainian claims that “many” Chinese citizens are serving in Russian military units after two Chinese were captured on the battlefield in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
There is no basis for this claim, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. He added that the Chinese government has consistently advised its citizens to avoid areas of armed conflict and to refrain from participating in military activities on either side.
“The Chinese side is verifying relevant information with the Ukrainian side,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin said.
Lin also stressed that “the Ukrainian side should correctly view China’s efforts and constructive role in pushing for a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis.”
A Ukrainian official told AFP news agency the Chinese citizens were captured “a few days ago,” adding there may be more.
The prisoners were said to likely be Chinese citizens who were enticed into signing a contract with the Russian army, rather than being sent by Beijing.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese citizens fighting with the Russian army. He also posted a video on social media with images of one of the prisoners.
“We have information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units than just these two,” he wrote, without providing evidence.
China presents itself as a neutral party to the conflict and says it is not sending lethal aid to either side, but it is a close political and economic ally of Russia.
Russia declined to comment on Kyiv’s claims.
“I have no way of commenting on this issue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
Kyiv says it captured Chinese nationals fighting for RussiaTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
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Skip next section US, Russia to meet in Istanbul on restoring embassy operationsApril 9, 2025
US, Russia to meet in Istanbul on restoring embassy operationsThe United States and Russia will hold talks on Thursday in Istanbul on restoring some of their embassy operations, the US State Department said.
The two sides will “try to make progress on further stabilizing the operations of our bilateral missions,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
She stressed that there will be no political or security issues on the agenda, including Ukraine. “These talks are solely focused on our embassy operations, not on normalizing a bilateral relationship,” Bruce added.
The talks, the second of their kind, come after US President Donald Trump reached out to Russia after the start of his second term and offered better relations if it stopped fighting in Ukraine. The talks are ongoing despite Russia rejecting a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine supports.
Deterrence Germany’s best defense against Russia: BreuerTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
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Skip next section Russia and Ukraine report drone attacksApril 9, 2025
Russia and Ukraine report drone attacksAt least 21 Ukrainians were wounded in Russian strikes across the country overnight, regional authorities said.
The worst strike wounded 15 people in the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had launched 55 drones overnight and that its air defense units shot down 32 of them.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its air defense units destroyed 158 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 29 over the southern Rostov region.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, but residents from 48 apartments in a building in the Rostov town of Aksay were evacuated due to the threat from a possible detonation of a fallen drone, the regional authorities said.
The ministry also said that Ukraine had carried out four attacks on Russian energy infrastructure over the past day, in violation of a US-brokered moratorium on hitting energy infrastructure targets.
Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of breaking the moratorium.
Ukraine braces for Russian offensive ahead of negotiations To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
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Skip next section Welcome to our coverageApril 9, 2025
Welcome to our coverageUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv’s troops had captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting alongside Russian forces.
We will follow the reactions from China and Russia, as well as other events related to Russia’s war on Ukraine and diplomatic efforts to end the fighting.
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