First two HK martyrs in Ukraine war were “so brave, so selfless”

Mark O'Neill January 27, 2026 13:20

On a cold Sunday afternoon, January 11, in west London, a large crowd of British, Ukrainian and Hong Kong people gathered to say goodbye to the first Hong Kong martyrs of the Ukrainian war.

“I pay my deepest respects to these two brave soldiers who died,” said Colonel Vitalii Hutsuliak, military attache of the Ukrainian embassy in London. “I extend my deepest condolences to their families and thank the British and Hong Kong and international volunteers for their support.

“The Russians started their invasion in 2014,” he said. “It has cost the lives of so many people. The motive of the Russians is to destroy Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he said.

The two were codenamed “Pin”, 23, and “Water”, 30. Pin was a rock-climbing instructor and Water a body guard. They were killed by the Russians on December 26 while serving in the Ukrainian Marine Corps in the southern district of Zapohrizhzhia, as heavy machine gunners.

A Hong Kong blogger Lai Cheng-wei quoted another Hong Kong army volunteer in Ukraine as saying the two were killed, along with a Czech soldier, on a reconnaissance mission Their bodies remain in a forest area on the front line, too dangerous to be recovered.

He quoted their commander as saying that the two had prepared for their mission for several days, with checks on equipment, planning routes and knowledge of how to use anti-drone equipment. Before the two set out, the commander told them there was a high possibility of contact with Russian forces. “Both men were aware of the risk but still chose to carry out the mission,” he said.

“But the tragedy could not be prevented. I am a failure. I failed to save the lives of my best soldiers,” he said.

The two had arrived in Ukraine in mid- to late November, joined the army and had a month of training as mechanised infantry. This was their first combat mission.

On January 11, they had a full military funeral, with music by a Ukrainian army band who played “The Last Post” and “Reveille” and the laying of wreaths. After the ceremony, the 60 mourners went to the Ukraine embassy in London to lay flowers and messages of condolence.

One organiser of the event said that, initially, the two men were afraid to go to Ukraine but gradually overcame their fear and were willing to go to battle. “This event is not only to mourn them but make everyone realise that freedom does not come on its own but has to be protected by our lives,” he said.

At the funeral a video was played by “Nid”, another Hong Kong volunteer in the Ukrainian army. He said that the two men were not seeking money or adventure but were fighting for freedom for Ukraine. “They knew what they were doing and died under fire. They were not sent to their death.” This was a reference to Russian commanders who send their men to die on the front line in “meat assaults”.

It is not clear why the funeral was held in London and not in their home city. Nor is it clear how much contact they had with their families. According to Lai Cheng-wei, the father of one of them was unaware that his son was fighting in Ukraine. There has been little coverage of the two martyrs in the HK media, nor do we know their Chinese names.

It may be because the Security Bureau tells Hong Kong citizens not to go to Ukraine and because China supports Russia in the war.

On Reddit, many left comments about the two martyrs. One said: “So young, so brave, so selfless. To give up the comforts of home to fight for one's ideals in a land so very far away. May we remember their sacrifice eternally.”

Last June the Ukrainian military said that more than 8,000 foreigners had joined its army as volunteers, of whom 40 per cent came from South America.

A small number of HK and mainland citizens are working in Ukraine as volunteers. On December 31, a report in the Guardian newspaper of London quoted a Chinese resident of Frankfurt, 52, saying that each month he drove from his home in Frankfurt to Ukraine to deliver tapioca pearls.
It called him Brother Dong, to protect his real identity, and said that he had formerly been an officer in China’s People Armed Police.

He opened the first of his bubble tea shops in Odesa in November 2022, crowdfunding more than US$12,000, mostly from the Chinese diaspora. Now he runs four “Maomi cafes” in different Ukrainian cities, selling Asian drinks and snacks. His aim is to show support for the Ukrainian people

The walls of the cafes are covered with pictures of Chinese and Taiwanese volunteers killed in the war by the Russians. One is Tseng Sheng-guang from Taiwan, who died in November 2022, the first soldier from East Asia killed in the war. There is also Peng Chenliang from Yunnan, killed in 2024.

“We do it so that they are not forgotten,” Dong said. “We, the Chinese, the Taiwanese, have courage in our blood and we will help you.”

Mark O'Neill

A Hong Kong-based writer, teacher and speaker.