Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Saturday. This is the first time Ukraine reports capturing North Korean troops alive since their participation in the war last autumn.
According to reports, North Korean forces allegedly entered the fray on Russia’s side in October, with Kyiv and its Western allies estimating their numbers at over 10,000. In a post on X, Zelenskiy confirmed that the soldiers had been transported to Kyiv and were being questioned by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
“These two North Korean servicemen receive the necessary medical care,” stated Zelenskiy, adding that journalists would be granted access to interview them.
Kyiv informs that North Korean servicemen are patrolling in Kursk area, one where, in August, Ukraine led a raid and remains in control of several hundred kilometres squared.
While Russia neither admitted nor denied that North Korean forces had been present there, Moscow or Pyongyang did not respond immediately to the report. Ukraine had also reported capturing North Korean soldiers, who died shortly after capture from serious injuries.
Later, in a video address, Zelenskiy said the capture was part of a special forces operation supported by paratroopers. The SBU released a video showing the captured soldiers, one with a bandaged jaw and another with a lower leg fracture.
According to the SBU, the soldiers who could not speak Ukrainian, Russian, or English were being interrogated in Korean, with help from South Korea’s NIS intelligence agency. The two birth years are 2005 and 1999; the soldiers have been serving in the North Korean military since 2021 and 2016, respectively.
They are being held under conditions that adhere to international law, and a criminal investigation is being conducted to determine whether they have violated Ukrainian laws against waging war.
