Ukrainian forces have reportedly captured two injured North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the news on Saturday, expressing gratitude to paratroopers and the Special Operation Forces for their efforts.
The captured soldiers, now in the custody of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in Kyiv, are receiving medical treatment as per the Geneva Convention. Zelensky highlighted the challenges faced during the operation, emphasizing that Russian and North Korean troops often execute wounded North Koreans to conceal their involvement in the war against Ukraine.
The SBU stated that the capture occurred on January 9, and the soldiers were immediately transported to Kyiv after receiving medical care. Communication with the prisoners has been facilitated through Korean interpreters in collaboration with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
Zelensky shared photographs of the captured soldiers and a red Russian military card. One soldier’s ID card listed his birthplace as Turan in the Tuva Republic near Mongolia. During interrogation, the soldier admitted he was issued the document in Russia in late 2024, claiming he was in Russia for training, not to fight in Ukraine.
The first soldier, reportedly born in 2005, has served North Korea as a rifleman since 2021. The second, born in 1999, has been a scout sniper since 2016. Due to an injured jaw, the latter provided some answers in writing.
The SBU believes Russia is concealing North Korean involvement by issuing documents linking soldiers to regions under Moscow’s control. This aligns with South Korea’s December 2024 report of a North Korean soldier captured in Ukraine who later died.
The incident raises questions about North Korea’s role in Russia’s war, with Zelensky calling for global transparency. Investigations under Ukraine’s Criminal Code are ongoing to establish the full extent of DPRK military participation.
