Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, the first time Ukraine has announced the capture of North Korean soldiers alive since their entry into the war last autumn.
North Korean regular troops entered the war on Russia’s side in October, according to Kyiv and its western allies, who initially estimated their numbers at 10,000 or more.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said the soldiers had been brought to Kyiv and were communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the country’s domestic intelligence agency.
“As with all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical assistance,” Zelenskyy said, adding that journalists would be given access to speak to them.
Kyiv says that North Korean troops are fighting in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August, and it still controls several hundred square kilometres of territory there.
Pyongyang has also been supplying Russia with vast quantities of artillery shells, according to Kyiv and its western allies.
Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops in Kursk, and there was no immediate reaction from Moscow or Pyongyang to the latest report.
Ukraine had previously said it captured North Korean soldiers in combat, but that they had been badly wounded and died shortly afterwards.
Zelenskyy said in a video address that the troops had been captured by Ukraine’s special forces working alongside paratroopers.
On Saturday, the SBU released a video showing the two men in hospital bunks, one with bandaged hands and the other with a bandaged jaw. A doctor at the detention centre said the first man also had a broken leg.
The SBU said the men had told interrogators they were experienced army soldiers, and one said he was sent to Russia for training, not fighting.
But Kyiv did not present direct evidence that the captured men were North Korean and AFP was unable to independently verify their nationalities.
South Korea’s confirmation added weight to Kyiv’s account. — Agencies
