Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky said two wounded North Korean soldiers were taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast.
According to Zelensky, the two men are receiving “necessary medical assistance” and are in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kiev.
The president said he was “grateful” to the Ukrainian paratroopers and special operations forces soldiers who captured the North Korean soldiers.
“This was not an easy task,” he added, claiming that Russian and North Korean forces typically execute wounded North Korean soldiers “to erase evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war with Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s intelligence service said in a statement that the detainees were arrested on January 9 and immediately transferred to Kiev “with all necessary medical services stipulated by the Geneva Conventions.”
“They were detained under appropriate conditions that meet the requirements of international law,” the intelligence agency said in a statement.
The National Intelligence Service said that since the detainees do not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian, they are cooperating with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to communicate through Korean interpreters.
In a statement posted on Telegram and
“The world needs to know the truth about what is happening,” he added.
Zelensky also posted four photos along with his statement. The two show the injured man. One of the photos shows a red Russian military card.
The document lists his birthplace as Turan, in the Republic of Tuva, close to Mongolia.
Intelligence officials said that when the prisoners were captured, one of the soldiers had a Russian military identity card issued in the name of another person registered in the Republic of Tuva. The other had no documentation at all.
Intelligence officials said that during interrogation, the soldier holding the ID card told a security guard that the document had been issued in Russia in the fall of 2024.
He reportedly stated that some of North Korea’s combat units at the time received interoperability training for a week.
“It is noteworthy that the detainee emphasized that he had gone for training and not to go to war with Ukraine,” the SBU said in a statement.
The National Intelligence Service said he was born in 2005 and has served in North Korea as a rifleman since 2021.
The second inmate reportedly suffered a jaw injury and provided some of his responses in writing, according to SBU. The National Intelligence Service said he was born in 1999 and had served in North Korea as a reconnaissance and sniper since 2016.
The Geneva Convention states that interrogations of prisoners must be conducted in a language they understand and that prisoners must be protected from public curiosity.
“The Russians are trying to hide the fact that the men are from North Korea by providing documents claiming they are from Tuina or other territories under Moscow’s control,” Prime Minister Zelenskiy’s office said in a statement.
The Blue House said in a statement, “However, these people are actually Korean and from North Korea.”
In 2014, Russian troops operating in Ukraine were sent without identification marks on their uniforms, despite the Kremlin’s denials.
Last year, President Vladimir Putin did not deny Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops in the war against Ukraine when asked. He said this was Russia’s “sovereign decision.”
Last December, South Korea’s intelligence agency reported as follows: The first North Korean soldier believed to have been captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine has died. After being captured by Ukrainian forces.
Separately, the White House said that the North Korean military was suffering massive casualties.
Ukraine’s Security Service said, “We are currently carrying out the necessary investigative measures to determine all circumstances surrounding the North Korean military’s participation in Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
“The investigation is being conducted in accordance with the procedural guidelines of the Prosecutor’s Office in accordance with Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (planning, preparation, provocation and conduct of offensive warfare).”
