Will Chinese have to die for Putin?

Mark O'Neill March 02, 2026 17:56

The thousands of Chinese living and working in Russia now face a possibly fatal decision if they wish to become long-term residents.

A Russian law that took effect on November said that foreign men under 65 applying for long-term residency or citizenship must agree to do a year of military service.

In a notice on its social media account in late February, the Chinese consulate in Vladivostok advised its citizens “to take note of the new regulations. Under them, foreign nationals might be required to serve at least one year in Russia’s military.” It urged them to “make prudent decisions” to ensure lawful residency status in Russia.

There are three exceptions – citizens of Belarus: those who provided proof they had already fulfilled their service in the Russian army: those who provided documents from Russian military conscription and recruitment centre stating they were unfit for military service.

Neither government provides figures for the number of Chinese living and working in Russia. Academic and media estimates put the figure at between 300,000 and 500,000. In the 2024/2025 academic year, more than 56,000 Chinese were studying at Russian universities.

They are concentrated in Moscow and the Far East. Chinese capital accounts for about 90 per cent of foreign investment in the Russian Far East, with 160 agricultural projects on 500,000 hectares of land. The Chinese work in a wide variety of jobs – including high-technology, finance, management, joint ventures, farm work, running factories, hotels and restaurants.

Permanent residency brings many benefits – visa-free entry and exit: and access to social and health care services, including free medical care in the public health system.

The reason for the new law is clear to everyone – President Vladimir Putin is running out of soldiers for the invasion of Ukraine he launched more than four years ago.

In January, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that around 325,000 Russian soldiers had been killed between February 2022 and December 2025, with another 875,000 wounded or missing.

A large number of the dead are prison inmates and citizens from poor rural areas, many inhabited by non-Slavs. The enormous salaries offered are more than they can earn in their own lifetimes. The republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, and the Sverdlovsk region, led other regions in the absolute number of people killed. War deaths for those three regions since February 2022 now total around 9,300, 7,500 and 6,700 respectively.

By contrast, Moscow, a city of over 13 million people, accounted for just under 3,200 deaths.
Putin is desperate to avoid a general mobilisation, especially of the residents of the major cities, including Moscow and St Petersburg. They have been little touched by the war.
He fears that such a mobilisation would turn the public in those cities against him and the war.

Western officials say that, since November, the Russian army has been suffering 40,000 casualties a month, against monthly recruitment of 35,000.

In January, Dmitry Usov, head of the Ukrainian prisoner of war headquarters, said that 18,000 foreigners from 128 countries and territories had been recruited to serve in the Russian military. Many were tricked with offers of non-military jobs or Russian citizenship. Once they arrived in Russia, they lost control of their life.

In addition, the North Korean government has sent 12,000 soldiers to fight for Russia.
So far the number of Chinese involved has been very small. Estimates put them at 100-200 on the Russian side and less than 100 on the Ukrainian side. All were volunteers and not sent by their government.

Chinese who apply for long-term residence put themselves at great risk. Reports on Videotube show the enormous pressure on Russian police and the military to find recruits to send to the front.

They have rounded up hundreds of migrant workers from central Asian countries, accuse them of criminal acts, even minor ones, and force them to sign military contracts or go to prison. Their governments are too economically dependent on Moscow to intervene on their behalf.

A Chinese who applies must come out of the shadows and make himself available to the Russian bureaucracy whose priority is to find recruits. He is putting his life at risk.

Any applicant should recall the words of two of their countrymen captured by the Ukrainians in April 2025. They later held a news conference.

One was Wang Guangjun, 34, from Zhengzhou. He said: “After I surrendered to the Ukrainians, the Russians dropped on us an explosive with gas. I started to breathe it and thought I was going to die. I lost consciousness. Then a Ukrainian soldier pulled me out by the scruff of the neck. I lived.”

The other soldier captured was Zhang Renbo, from Jiangxi. “I was captured during my first combat mission. Prior to that, I had no combat experience nor held a weapon,” he said. “I was given an AK-47.”

Both were fortunate to live. Why do Chinese have to die for Vladimir Putin?

Mark O'Neill

A Hong Kong-based writer, teacher and speaker.