Ukraine announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia
Ukrainian authorities on Saturday announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers in Russia, saying they were the first to be captured alive since Pyongyang sent troops to support Moscow’s war effort.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said two wounded soldiers were captured in western Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops are fighting to hold on to territory seized in a surprise cross-border attack on last summer.
In a post on multiple social media channels, Mr. Zelensky said the soldiers had received medical care as required by the Geneva Convention and had been taken to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for questioning.
Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, SBU, said one of the soldiers was captured on Thursday. It did not provide details about where or when the second person was taken prisoner, but said they were the first North Koreans fighting against Ukraine in Kursk to be captured.
According to the SBU, the interrogations are being carried out through Korean interpreters in coordination with South Korea’s intelligence agency. The South Korean Embassy in Ukraine did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither Russia nor North Korea were immediately available for comment.
Ukraine’s intelligence service and Mr. Zelensky both shared photos and videos of the two soldiers, showing one with a bandage around his jaw and the other with a bandaged hand.
Under the rules governing the treatment of prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions, governments have a duty to protect prisoners of war from being turned into “public curiosities,” a concept considered not suitable. sometimes understood as not presenting them in any public setting.
Fierce fighting broke out in Kursk as Russian forces tried to expel Ukrainian troops and push them back across the border. Supported by over 11,000 North Korean soldiersRussian troops have regained about half of the territory lost in the region.
But Ukraine still holds more than 150 square miles of land inside Russia. The White House said North Korean forces were suffering heavy casualties.
Last month, the Biden administration said more than 1,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded fighting Ukrainian troops in Kursk over the course of a week – some chose to commit suicide rather than surrender.
