Two wounded North Korean troopers have been captured as prisoners of warfare by Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Saturday.
The 2 males are receiving “crucial medical help” and are within the custody of the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv, in line with Zelensky.
The president stated he was “grateful” to Ukrainian paratroopers and troopers from the Particular Operation Forces for capturing the North Koreans.
He added that “this was not a simple job”, claiming that Russian and North Korean troopers often execute wounded North Koreans “to erase any proof of North Korea’s involvement within the warfare towards Ukraine”.
The Ukrainian intelligence service stated in an announcement that the prisoners have been captured on 9 January and instantly after have been “supplied with all the mandatory medical care as stipulated by the Geneva Conference” and brought to Kyiv.
“They’re being held in applicable circumstances that meet the necessities of worldwide regulation,” the intelligence service’s assertion learn.
The intelligence service stated the prisoners don’t communicate Ukrainian, English or Russian, “so communication with them is carried out by interpreters of Korean, in cooperation with South Korean NIS (Nationwide Intelligence Service)”.
In an announcement posted on Telegram and X, Zelensky stated the troopers have been “speaking to SBU investigators” and he had instructed the Safety Service of Ukraine to grant journalists entry to them.
“The world must know the reality about what is occurring,” he added.
Zelensky additionally posted 4 images alongside his assertion. Two present wounded males. One of many pictures confirmed a crimson Russian army card.
The native land on the doc is given as Turan, within the Tuva Republic, which is near Mongolia.
The intelligence service stated that when the prisoners have been captured, one of many troopers had a Russian army ID card issued within the title of one other particular person with registration within the Tuva Republic. The opposite had no paperwork in any respect.
The intelligence service stated that in interrogation, the soldier with the ID card instructed safety personnel that he had been issued the doc in Russia throughout the autumn of 2024.
He’s alleged to have said that at the moment, a few of North Korea’s fight items had one-week interoperability coaching.
“It’s noteworthy that the prisoner…emphasises that he was allegedly going for coaching, to not battle a warfare towards Ukraine,” the SBU assertion stated.
The intelligence service reported that he stated he was born in 2005 and had been serving North Korea as a rifleman since 2021.
The second prisoner is reported to have given a few of his solutions in writing as a result of he had an injured jaw, in line with SBU. The intelligence service stated it believed he was born in 1999 and had been serving North Korea as a scout sniper since 2016.
The Geneva Conference states that the questioning of prisoners needs to be carried out in a language they perceive and prisoners should be protected towards public curiosity.
Zelensky’s workplace stated in an announcement that the Russians “are attempting to cover the truth that these are troopers from North Korea by giving them paperwork claiming they’re from Tuva or different territories below Moscow’s management”.
“However these persons are truly Koreans, they’re from North Korea,” the assertion from the president’s workplace stated.
In 2014, Russian forces working in Ukraine – regardless of Kremlin denials – have been despatched with out figuring out markings on their uniforms.
Final 12 months, when President Vladimir Putin was requested about Russia utilizing North Korean troops in its warfare on Ukraine, he didn’t deny it. He stated it was Russia’s “sovereign determination”.
In December, South Korea’s intelligence company reported that a North Korean soldier believed to have been the primary to be captured whereas supporting Russia’s warfare in Ukraine had died after being taken alive by Ukrainian forces.
Individually, the White Home stated North Korean forces have been experiencing mass casualties.
The Safety Service of Ukraine stated it “is presently conducting the mandatory investigative measures to determine all of the circumstances of the DPRK army’s participation in Russia’s warfare towards Ukraine”.
“The investigation is being performed below the procedural steerage of the Prosecutor Normal’s Workplace below Article 437 of the Prison Code of Ukraine (planning, preparation, unleashing and waging an aggressive warfare).”
