Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this Saturday that Ukrainian forces have captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, where kyiv is trying to hold onto territories captured in a surprise offensive last year.
“Two soldiers, although wounded, survived and were transported to kyiv, where they are now communicating with the Ukrainian Security Service,” Zelensky said on the social network captives.
“It was not an easy task: normally Russian forces and other North Korean soldiers execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine,” Zelensky added.
The Ukrainian president has indicated that, as with the rest of the prisoners of war, kyiv will provide them with the necessary health care and has stated that he has given instructions to the security forces so that the press has access to them.
According to a statement from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the soldiers were captured on January 9 and one of them was carrying a Russian military identity card issued in the name of another person, while the other was undocumented.
Communication with the prisoners of war is being carried out through interpreters, with the cooperation of Korean intelligence services, since they do not speak Russian or English.
“It is notable that the prisoner, like the Russian army at the beginning of the large-scale invasion, emphasizes that he was supposed to participate in maneuvers, not to fight in the war against Ukraine,” the SBU noted with respect to one of the captives, while his companion “confirmed his testimony.”
This week Zelensky put North Korean casualties at 4,000 in the Russian region of Kursk, where according to kyiv’s security services 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to support Russian troops.
