Ukraine announced it had captured two wounded North Korean soldiers in Russia

Ukrainian forces captured two wounded North Korean soldiers as prisoners of war in Russia’s Kursk Oblast region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.

Zelensky said the two men were receiving “necessary medical assistance” and were being held by the Ukrainian Security Service in Kiev.

The president said he was “grateful” to Ukrainian paratroopers and Special Operations Forces soldiers for capturing the North Koreans.

“This was not an easy task,” he added, claiming that Russian and North Korean soldiers routinely executed wounded North Koreans “to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine.”

Ukrainian intelligence said in a statement that the prisoners were arrested on January 9 and immediately afterwards “were provided with all necessary medical care as stipulated in the Geneva Convention” and transferred to Kiev.

“They are being held in appropriate conditions that meet the requirements of international law,” the intelligence service’s statement said.

The intelligence said that the prisoners do not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian, “so communication with them is done through Korean language translators, in cooperation with the South Korean National Intelligence Service.”

In a statement posted on the Telegram and

He added: “The world needs to know the truth about what is happening.”

Zelensky also posted four photos alongside his statement. Two wounded men were shown. One photo showed a red Russian military card.

The place of birth in the document is mentioned as Turan, in the Republic of Tuva, near Mongolia.

Intelligence said that when the prisoners were arrested, one of the soldiers was carrying a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person registered in the Republic of Tuva. The other had no documents at all.

During interrogation, the soldier with the ID card told security personnel that he obtained the document in Russia during the fall of 2024, the intelligence service said.

He allegedly stated that at the time, some North Korean combat units received one week of interoperability training.

“It is worth noting that the prisoner… confirmed that he was on his way to training, and not to fight a war against Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Security Service said in a statement.

He said he was born in 2005 and had been serving in North Korea as a soldier since 2021, the intelligence service reported.

The second prisoner reportedly gave some of his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw, according to the State Security Service. Intelligence said it believed he was born in 1999 and had been serving in North Korea as a reconnaissance sniper since 2016.

The Geneva Convention stipulates that interrogation of prisoners must be conducted in a language they understand and prisoners must be protected from public curiosity.

Zelensky’s office said in a statement that the Russians “are trying to hide the fact that these are North Korean soldiers by giving them documents claiming that they are from Tuva or other regions under Moscow’s control.”

“But these people are actually Koreans, and they are from North Korea,” the statement from the president’s office said.

In 2014, Russian troops operating in Ukraine – despite Kremlin denials – were sent without identification marks on their uniforms.

Last year, when President Vladimir Putin was asked about Russia’s use of North Korean forces in its war on Ukraine, he did not deny it. He said it was Russia’s “sovereign decision.”

In December, the South Korean intelligence agency reported this A North Korean soldier believed to be the first to be captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine has died After Ukrainian forces captured him alive.

Separately, the White House said North Korean forces were suffering heavy casualties.

The Ukrainian Security Service said that it is “currently conducting the necessary investigative measures to determine all the circumstances of the DPRK army’s participation in Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

“The investigation is being conducted under the procedural directives of the Prosecutor General’s Office under Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (planning, preparation and unleashing of an aggressive war).”