[A photo of the Ukrainian flag. Photo Credit: Pixabay]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on January 11th the capture of two injured North Korean soldiers.

The soldiers were captured in the Kursk region, which has been under Ukrainian control since August 2024. 

“Our soldiers have captured North Korean military personnel in the Kursk region. Two soldiers, though wounded, survived and were transported to Kyiv, where they are now communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine,” Zelensky stated on the social media platform X.

The development marks the first time Ukraine has captured North Korean soldiers alive. 

According to Zelensky, “This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine.”

Intelligence reports from Ukrainian and Western sources estimate approximately 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed in the Kursk region.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that more than 1,000 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded in Kursk as of last December 2024. 

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed the soldiers were captured on January 9th and are currently receiving “all the necessary medical care as stipulated by the Geneva Convention," before being taken to Kyiv. 

The intelligence service further stated that the captured soldiers “are being held in appropriate conditions that meet the requirements of international law.”

Accompanying his announcement, Zelensky shared four photographs including images of the wounded men and a red Russian military card.

The identification document was issued  to a person registered in the Tuva Republic, near Mongolia, while the second soldier had no identification.

During interrogation, the soldier carrying the ID card revealed he received the document in Russia during autumn 2024, coinciding with a one-week interoperability training for North Korean combat units.

The SBU noted that "It is noteworthy that the prisoner...emphasises that he was allegedly going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine." 

Intelligence sources indicate the second soldier was born in 1999 and had been serving as a scout sniper in North Korea since 2016.

Zelensky’s office explained that Russia “are trying to hide the fact that these are soldiers from North Korea by giving them documents claiming they are from Tuva or other territories under Moscow's control,” additionally clarifying that “these people are actually Koreans, they are from North Korea." 

When questioned about the involvement of North Korean troops last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as Russia’s “sovereign decision,” neither confirming nor denying the claims.

The SBU announced it "is currently conducting the necessary investigative measures to establish all the circumstances of the DPRK military's participation in Russia's war against Ukraine."