Russian troops likely using Chinese armored vehicles on frontline — Bild

Bild’s open data analyst Julian Röpcke confirmed the authenticity of the images in a Telegram post on Sept. 24 and noted that this is the first evidence of Chinese military equipment being used in Ukraine.

"The Russian army has for the first time used Chinese ZFB-05 armored vehicles in Ukraine," Röpcke said.

“China denies supplying these vehicles. However, there are numerous African intermediaries that Russia could have used.”

Russia's cooperation with China

The Pentagon stated in October 2023 that Russia had purchased dual-use products and secondary military items from China for its military, including small arms, spare parts, navigation equipment, and protective gear.

China strengthened its support for Russia in the war against Ukraine by providing the aggressor state with satellite imagery for strikes on Ukrainian targets, Bloomberg reported on April 7, 2024.

China continued to help Russia boost its defense production by supplying machinery, microelectronics, drones, and winged missile technologies, Reuters reported on April 12, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell stated that Washington would hold China accountable if Russia achieved success in the war against Ukraine.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Beijing is not seeking to benefit from the war launched by Russia in Ukraine.

After the NATO summit in Washington in July, the final declaration named China a "decisive enabler" contributing to Russia's war against Ukraine. The Chinese mission to the EU called such statements slander and urged the Alliance to stay out of Asia.

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited China at the end of July for the first time since the start of the full-scale war. According to him, following talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou, he received a clear signal that China is not seeking "temporary solutions" to the issue of peace in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that China confirmed it would not supply weapons to Russia and that it supports Ukraine's territorial integrity.