Editor's observe: President Volodymyr Zelensky and the SBU printed images and movies of the captured North Korean troopers, however the Kyiv Unbiased selected to not publish them at the moment for moral causes.
Ukrainian troops captured two North Korean troopers as prisoners of conflict (POWs) in Russia's Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Jan. 11.
"This job was not simple," he stated in a Telegram put up.
"Often, Russia and different North Korean navy personnel end off their wounded and do every thing doable to make sure that no proof of the participation of one other state — North Korea — within the conflict in opposition to Ukraine is preserved."
The 2 wounded troopers acquired needed medical care and are within the custody of the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv, in line with Zelensky. The president applauded Ukrainian paratroopers and troopers from the Particular Operation Forces for capturing the North Koreans.
North Korea deployed round 12,000 troopers in Kursk Oblast, the place Ukraine launched a shock cross-border incursion in August 2024 to convey the conflict to Russia, a senior Ukrainian official aware of the intelligence instructed the Kyiv Unbiased in December 2024.
Zelensky's assertion comes almost two weeks after the South Korean Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS) stated that Ukrainian troops had captured a wounded North Korean soldier in late December who died quickly of his wounds.
"We confirmed by way of a pleasant nation's intelligence group {that a} North Korean soldier, captured alive on Dec. 26, died a short time in the past as (his) wounds worsened," the NIS stated on Dec. 27,as cited by South Korean Yonhap Information Company.
Applauding the "irrefutable proof" of North Korean troopers' participation within the Russian conflict in opposition to Ukraine, the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated on Jan. 11 that interrogations are ongoing with the assistance of Korean translators and the NIS.
One of many North Korean POWs stated he was born in 2005 and was a rifleman who had been going by way of navy service in North Korea since 2021, in line with the SBU.
"It’s noteworthy that the prisoner, just like the Russian navy at first of the full-scale invasion, emphasizes that he was supposedly going for coaching and never for a conflict in opposition to Ukraine," the SBU stated in its Telegram put up.
The opposite POW was born in 1999 and has served within the North Korean military since 2016 as a sniper reconnaissance officer, the SBU stated, citing its preliminary knowledge.
The primary POW was issued with an ID doc beneath the title of one other particular person from Russia's Tuva Republic, whereas the second had no paperwork in any respect.
Western nations condemned the 2 authoritarian states' deepening cooperation, with U.S. Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin calling it a transparent signal of Moscow's rising desperation on Jan. 9.
The primary small-scale fight clashes between Ukrainian and North Korean troops occurred in November 2024, Protection Minister Rustem Umerov stated. Then, in December, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated {that a} "vital quantity" of North Korean troopers had begun taking part in assault operations in Kursk Oblast.
North Korean troops have up to now suffered over 1,000 casualties since December, although different estimates are a lot greater, Austin stated on Jan. 9. Zelensky positioned the variety of North Korean casualties as excessive as 4,000, however the figures can’t be independently verified.
Solely restricted movies of the North Korean troopers appeared on-line, making it tough to attract conclusions about their fight skills.
The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima