Ukraine captures 2 North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region – Zelensky

Ukrainian forces have captured two injured North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, bringing them to Kyiv for questioning, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Saturday.

This marks the first time Ukraine has acknowledged detaining North Korean military personnel since their reported deployment in late 2023.

“Two soldiers, though wounded, survived and were transported to Kyiv, where they are now communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote in an Instagram post, which also included photos of the prisoners. “This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine.”

The president assured that the two detainees were receiving necessary medical care. “As with all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical assistance,” he said. “I have instructed security officials to allow journalists to have access to the prisoners. The world needs to know the truth about what is happening.”

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) added that the capture provides “indisputable evidence” of North Korean involvement in the conflict. One soldier was apprehended by Ukrainian special forces, the other by paratroopers, the agency said in a statement.

The two prisoners were taken while fighting in a small area of western Russia, which Ukraine has controlled since August. Their capture could provide Kyiv with valuable intelligence about the growing collaboration between Pyongyang and Moscow. Russia and North Korea formalized a mutual defense pact in November, and Ukraine has claimed that at least 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to assist Russian forces in reclaiming Ukrainian-held territory.

Ukrainian forces first reported a significant North Korean military presence on the frontlines in mid-December, with Zelensky stating this week that around 4,000 of these soldiers have either been killed or injured in combat.

Photos shared by Zelensky show one soldier in a striped sweater lying in a detention center cot, both arms bandaged, and another with a military jacket, swollen lips, and a bandaged head. The second prisoner is shown drinking from a cup through a straw in a room with two bunk beds. The area appears orderly, with a radiator and metal-barred window.

Included in the post were images of a passport-like Russian language document that lists the soldier’s birth year as 1998.

Ukrainian officials have long warned that North Korean soldiers may be disguised as Russian personnel using Russian documents. The SBU stated that the prisoners do not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian, and interpreters from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service are being used for questioning. The soldier with bandaged arms explained that his Russian-issued passport was given to him late last year, and he had believed he was being sent for training. He was born in 2005 and joined the North Korean military in 2021.

The second soldier, who suffered a jaw injury, responded to questions in writing. According to the SBU, he was born in 1999 and had served as a scout sniper in North Korea since 2016.

A video released by the SBU shows a Ukrainian doctor, his face blurred for privacy, confirming that a dentist would treat the soldier with the jaw injury, while the other soldier faces treatment for a fractured leg with an open wound.

Troops in the Kursk region have described North Korean soldiers arriving in mid-December in large groups, seemingly unprepared for the challenges of modern warfare. Ukrainian soldiers reported that the North Koreans appeared unphased by the presence of drones, unlike Russian troops who tend to move in smaller groups to avoid detection. The North Koreans, on the other hand, pressed forward, even as their comrades were killed or wounded in battle.

Oleh, a Ukrainian special forces soldier stationed in Kursk, recalled capturing a severely wounded North Korean soldier in late December, who died within hours before he could be transported for further interrogation. Other North Korean soldiers, he said, had chosen to take their own lives using grenades to avoid capture.