Chinese father and son detained in Ukraine, accused of trying to contraband information about the guided missile system

Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that two Chinese citizens, a father and a son, had been arrested and accused of illegally trying documents classified in a key Ukrainian missile system to Beijing.

According to a statement from the Office of the Attorney General of Ukraine, an investigation carried out by the Ukraine Security Service (SBU) intelligence agency found the youngest man, a 24 -year -old who was expelled from a Ukraine University in 2023 for academic insufficiency, remained in Ukraine and tried to recruit a Ukrainian national who worked in the development of “Neptune” Guidune System.

“It was established that the foreigner was collecting and he was supposed to transfer to his father, who has close links with the security agencies and the general personnel of China, documentation on the Neptune missile system,” said the government in his statement, qualifying the missiles “a unique weapon of the Ukraine Defense Forces” that was used in a distinctive attack in the Navy of Russia in Russia in 2022.

The SBU said that the father of man entered Ukraine earlier this week to “personally coordinate his son’s spy work.”

None of the men was identified.

According to the attorney general’s office, the 24 -year -old was arrested while he was in the process of transmitting the information to his father, who was arrested two days later. The father visited the Chinese embassy in Kyiv a day before being arrested, according to the statement.

The Chinese embassy did not respond to the News themezone request for comments on this story.

The news occurs a week after China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the main diplomat of the European Union that Beijing did not want to see Ukraine win the Russian war launched with his large -scale invasion 2022. Chinese officials have not confirmed that private declaration of Wang during a visit to Brussels, informed by the South China Morning Post and other media.

Chinese officials have repeatedly said that the country’s position in the Ukraine War is neutrality, but an US. Defense Department report issued at the end of 2024 He concluded that China has supported Russia in the war and sold dual use of Russia that are crucial for the Moscow military industry.

Under the Biden administration, then Secretary of State Antony Blinken said At the beginning of 2023, the United States government worried that Beijing was considering increasing his support for Russia with “everything from ammunition to the weapons themselves.”

China has continued to deny taking sides in the war, but it has He deepened his relationship with Moscowboth politically and militarily, significantly in recent years.

The Neptune system is a national design of national design cruise that has been in service with the Ukrainian Navy since March 2021. The guided missiles of almost 2,000 pounds are designed to attack both ships and land objectives, and was successful in the first months of the war when used sink the Moskva Guided missile cruise, which was the flagship of the Black Sea fleet of Russia.

The missiles, which have a variety of approximately 174 miles, are a vital weapon for Ukraine, since it seeks to defend its coastal area of ​​the Black Sea. It has also been deployed elsewhere and reached the military objectives, including an air base in the Kursk region of Russia, last year, according to the Ukraine Army.

The original Neptune design was updated to extend its range and reduce the Ukrainian dependence on weapons provided by the United States and Europe.

The two Chinese men had to remain in custody during an investigation prior to the trial. If they are guilty of the charges, they could face prison sentences up to 15 years.

• War
• Espionage
• Ukraine
• Russia
• Porcelain
• Neptune