More than one hundred Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine are mercenaries who do not appear to have a direct link to China's government, two U.S. officials familiar with American intelligence and a former Western intelligence official said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukrainian intelligence had identified 155 Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, a day after Ukraine said two Chinese nationals were captured in the country.

Ukrainian forces have captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting for the Russian army in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. He said on Tuesday that intelligence suggested the number of Chinese soldiers in Russia's army was "much higher than two".