Zelensky turns capture of North Koreans into political spectacle

Ukrainian president claims capture of North Koreans in Kursk while Ukrainian services detain pair in Kyiv

Ukraine is interrogating two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia in the Kursk region, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The pair, “although injured, survived and were transported to Kyiv, where they are now communicating with the Ukrainian Security Service,” Zelenskiy said in an X post that included photos of the alleged soldiers.

Zelenskiy said he had instructed the Ukrainian security service to grant journalists access to the prisoners. “The world needs to know the truth about what is happening,” he said.

In a post on its website, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that one of the soldiers was carrying a military ID issued in the name of another person, registered in the Russian region of Tuva, located between Mongolia and Siberia. The other did not have identification documents.

During interrogation, the soldier said he had received his Russian identity card during the fall and that he understood he was going for training in Russia, not to be sent against Ukraine, according to the security service.

According to the security service, neither man speaks Russian, Ukrainian or English. “Communication with them is carried out through Korean interpreters in cooperation with South Korean security authorities.”

Speaking at the Ramstein Group meeting in Germany this week, Zelenskiy said around 4,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or injured in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine. Estimates cannot be verified.

US officials said in mid-December that North Korea suffered “several hundred” casualties in clashes with Ukrainian troops, out of a total possibly estimated at 12,000 troops deployed.

Ukrainian forces launched a new offensive a week ago in Kursk, where they have held territory for several months.

Check out the full publication of the Security Service of Ukraine

The Ukrainian Defense Forces captured the first North Korean military fighting against Ukraine in the Kursk region; video

The Ukrainian Defense Forces captured the first North Korean soldiers fighting for the Russians in the Kursk region. Thus, the Security Service of Ukraine, which investigates and archives the relevant crimes, received indisputable evidence of the DPRK’s participation in Russia’s war against our country.

We are talking about two North Korean soldiers, one of whom was captured on January 9, 2025 by soldiers of the 84th Tactical Group of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, and the other by paratroopers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Immediately after being captured, the foreigners received all necessary medical care as stipulated by the Geneva Convention.

They were taken to Kiev to carry out priority investigative measures. They are being held in appropriate conditions that meet the requirements of international law.

The POWs do not speak Ukrainian, English or Russian, so communication with them is through Korean interpreters, in cooperation with the South Korean NIS.

At the time of capture, one of the foreigners had a Russian military identity card issued in the name of another person registered in the Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation. The other had no documents.

During interrogation, the DPRK soldier who was found with the note told the Ukrainian Security Service that he had received the document in Russia in the fall of 2024. At that time, he said, some North Korean combat units had week-long interoperability with Russian groups.

He stated that he was born in 2005, was a sniper and had been serving in North Korea since 2021. It is worth noting that the prisoner, like the Russian military at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, emphasizes that he was supposedly going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine.

Another prisoner of war confirmed the testimony of his ‘fellow soldier’. He gave some of his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw.

According to preliminary information, he was born in 1999 and has served in the DPRK army since 2016 as a sniper.

The Security Service of Ukraine is currently conducting the necessary investigative measures to establish all the circumstances of the DPRK’s military participation in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The investigation is being conducted under the procedural guidance of the General Prosecutor’s Office under Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (planning, preparing, unleashing and conducting an aggressive war).

With information from Bloomberg and the Security Service of Ukraine