Got a question for Michael Clarke?

Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke is back tomorrow for his weekly Q&A. 

He’ll be answering your questions on the Ukraine war, covering anything from the battlefield to peace talks – you decide.

Submit yours in the box above and he’ll get through as many as he can.

Explained: China’s ‘enabler’ role in the war

Beijing has claimed neutrality since the start of the war, but as our military analyst Michael Clarke points out – we know they have been a key supplier for Russia.

They buy oil, Clarke says, in greater volumes than they actually need to help Russia’s balance of payments.

And they’ve been a source of key technologies after the West’s sweeping sanctions on Moscow.

It’s all led to the US and NATO describing China as an enabler of Russia in the war.

Despite that, China has offered to help with peace talks and even put together a plan to end the war – though this remained vague and was dismissed by most observers.

Foreign minister Wang Yi went to Moscow little more than a week ago for talks with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss Donald Trump’s proposal to end the war.

The leaders of both nations – Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin – have a close relationship, which is reflected in the countries’ diplomatic ties.

However, China has not knowingly provided Russia with weapons or any military expertise.

That’s why today’s development is significant – even if it isn’t clear if they were operating on the orders of the Chinese leadership.

Ukraine summons Chinese diplomat for explanation

Ukraine’s foreign minister says he has summoned China’s charge d’affaires to the ministry to demand an explanation for Chinese men fighting in the country.

Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X that the presence of Chinese citizens “fighting as part of Russia’s invasion army” puts into question China’s declared stance for peace.

He said it also “undermines Beijing’s credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council”.

Analysis: Putin and Xi are very close – their nations’ relationship is back under microscope

We still don’t know for certain if the Chinese men captured in Ukraine have any affiliation to the Chinese state, or if they were operating under orders from Beijing.

Nevertheless, this incident brings the relationship between Russia and China into sharp focus, says our international correspondent John Sparks.

He says the use of North Korean troops shows Moscow has “serious manpower problems” and that there are likely arguments in Russia to use “any personnel they can possibly get, even if they’re from China”.

“I think that throws the relationship between Russia and China into real concentration here. What is the nature of their relationship when it comes to the war in Ukraine? 

“Officially at least, the Chinese have said that they respect Ukrainian sovereignty and in the past they have made efforts, they say to, encourage mediation between the two sides.

“A couple of months ago, though, Putin and Xi Jinping had a very warm phone call. Xi Jinping said that their partnership was a ‘no-limits’ partnership. They are very close. And this could be indicative of that.”

Map shows frontline in Donetsk – where Chinese were captured

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the two Chinese men were captured in Donetsk in the east of Ukraine, though gave no further details.

This is the current territorial situation in the region, which Russia occupies and illegally annexed along with Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia in September 2022, seven months after the full-scale invasion. 

And here’s the latest territory maps covering the rest of Ukraine, including the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod, which have seen increased fighting.

Starting with a wider map of Ukraine, scroll to see each region of the frontline in focus, moving anti-clockwise from Zaporizhzhia region all the way round to northeastern Ukraine.

Video shows ‘Chinese prisoner’ in custody

Along with a post shared on X in the past few minutes, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also uploaded a video appearing to show a Chinese prisoner in Ukrainian custody.

We’re not sharing that video here to protect his identity, but we have blurred grabs from it and can describe what the 23-second video shows.

Wearing military overalls, the man can be seen making explosion sounds and pointing in the air as if shooting.

It’s not clear what exactly he is describing, but he appears to say “boom” at least a couple of times and can be heard saying “commander”.

He has his hands tied and seems to be surrounded by soldiers somewhere indoors.

‘This could be very, very embarrassing for China’

We’ve just been getting reaction to this breaking story from military analyst Michael Clarke.

He says there will be different consequences for the war in Ukraine depending on the identity and allegiances of the Chinese soldiers captured.

“If they are just Chinese individuals who are fighting effectively as mercenaries, then that’s obviously embarrassing to China. But in a way, it goes no further than that,” he says.

“But if it’s the case that they are there in some informal but Chinese capacity as advisers, or they’ve got some sort of function as special forces, that would be very serious indeed because China has always said that it doesn’t help Russia in this war.”

Clarke says if the soldiers are operating on Chinese state orders, it would cross “quite a big legal line” and be “very, very embarrassing” for Beijing.

“That would mean that the Chinese are sending individuals to fight in a contested area to join an invasion of a foreign country,” he says.

“The Chinese would pretend that that isn’t the truth, that isn’t the truth. And the Russians would say that Donetsk is Russian territory, but legally, of course, it isn’t. 

“It’s Ukrainian territory, and it has been since 1991.”

‘Many more Chinese citizens’ fighting for Russia – Zelenskyy’s statement in full

In a post on messaging app Telegram, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine has information there are “many more” Chinese citizens among Russia’s forces.

Here’s his translated statement in full:

Our military captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army. This happened on the territory of Ukraine – in the Donetsk region. We have the documents of these prisoners, bank cards and personal data.

We have information that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units than just two. We are now finding out all the facts. Intelligence, the Security Service, and the relevant units of the Armed Forces are working.

I have instructed the Ukrainian foreign affairs minister to immediately contact Beijing and find out how China is going to respond to this.

Russia’s involvement of China in this war in Europe, directly or indirectly, is a clear signal that Putin is going to do anything but end the war. He is looking for ways to continue the war. This definitely requires a reaction. A reaction from the United States, Europe, and everyone in the world who wants peace.

The captured Chinese citizens are in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Relevant investigative and operational actions are under way.

Chinese men captured while fighting in Ukraine, says Zelenskyy

Two Chinese citizens have been captured while fighting in eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just said.

Ukraine’s forces fought six Chinese soldiers, with two of them taken prisoner, he added.

He has ordered officials to get an explanation from Beijing.

We’re now resuming our live coverage of the war in Ukraine – and we’ll soon have more on this new development.

We’re pausing our coverage – thanks for following

We’re pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

We’ll be back with any breaking news, but in the meantime you can scroll down to catch up on today’s developments.

And here’s a summary of the big news of the day:

• Vladimir Putin supports a ceasefire in Ukraine but still has a “number of questions” that he wants answered, the Kremlin says;
• Russian troops have reportedly taken control of the settlement of Katerynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region;
• Three days of mourning have started in Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home town of Kryvyi Rih after 20 civilians were killed in an attack on Friday;
• The UN condemned Moscow’s “reckless disregard for civilians” after the attack.