Chinese Nationals Serving in Ukraine with the Russian Army Discuss Their Service in Viral Video Chat: Command Failures Are the Norm; Fallen Soldiers’ Families Are Not Compensated; North Korean Fighters Were Not Very Tough, They Were Gone Right Away; We Tortured Deserters

On October 20, 2024, a prominent Chinese social media influencer known as "Teacher Li is Not Your Teacher," who has 1.7 million followers on X, posted a recording of a live-streamed video chat session between two Chinese nationals who were serving in the Russian army. One of the men said that there have been “command failure after command failure” among Russian commanders on his front and that he had openly disagreed with their way of fighting. He added that the families of many fallen soldiers aren’t compensated financially because the Russian army marks bodies that were left on the battlefield or unidentifiable as “missing in action.” The other man said that this is a common situation on his front as well, and he said that there had so far been 153 Chinese nationals killed in combat on his front alone, and probably more if counting other fronts. He also said that there was a small contingent of North Korean troops participating in the war as well, but that they are not tough like people say and “were gone in just one day” after entering the combat. On the subject of deserters, the two men discussed how captured deserters are executed or violently beaten and tortured by other soldiers. The video has garnered 1.1 million views on X.