Ukraine says it captured 2 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities on Saturday announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers in Russia, saying they were the first to be taken alive since the North sent troops to assist Moscow’s war effort.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said the two soldiers, who were wounded, were captured in the Kursk region of western Russia, where Ukrainian troops have been fighting to hold on to territory seized during a surprise cross-border incursion last summer.

In a post on various social media channels, Zelenskyy said the soldiers had received medical care, as required by the Geneva Conventions, and had been taken to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, for interrogation.

Ukraine’s domestic intelligence service, the SBU, said one of the soldiers was captured Thursday. It did not provide details on where, or say when the second was taken prisoner, but said they were the first North Koreans fighting against Ukraine in Kursk to be captured.

Their capture, the SBU said in a lengthy statement, provides “indisputable evidence of North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war against our country.”

The Kremlin has not directly confirmed that North Korean troops are fighting alongside Moscow’s forces.

Interrogations are being carried out through Korean translators in coordination with South Korea’s intelligence service, according to the SBU. The South Korean Embassy in Ukraine did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither Russia nor North Korea had any immediate comment.

Ukraine’s intelligence agency and Zelenskyy shared photographs and videos of the two soldiers, showing one with bandages around his jaw and the other with bandaged hands.

According to the rules governing treatment of prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions, governments are supposed to protect a prisoner of war from being made into a “public curiosity,” a concept that is sometimes interpreted as not presenting them in any public setting.

Fierce fighting has raged in Kursk as Russian forces try to rout Ukrainian troops and drive them back across the border. Bolstered by more than 11,000 North Korean soldiers, Russian troops have regained roughly half of the territory they lost in the area.

But Ukraine has hung on to more than 150 square miles of land inside Russia. The White House has said North Korea’s forces are suffering heavy casualties.

Last month, the Biden administration said more than 1,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded fighting Ukrainian troops in Kursk over the course of a week — with some choosing suicide over surrender.

South Korean intelligence officials have said that the deployment of North Korean troops was so rushed — with soldiers thrust into battle after learning a smattering of military terms, like “open fire” and “artillery,” in Russian — that it could take time for them to properly integrate with Moscow’s forces.

The capture of the two soldiers could provide Ukraine with valuable intelligence on Russia’s military operations in Kursk and the interplay with North Korean soldiers.

In its statement Sunday, Ukraine’s intelligence agency said one of the captured soldiers told interrogators that he thought he was being sent to Russia for training — not to fight Ukraine. That soldier, according to the SBU, was carrying a Russian military ID card.

Zelenskyy alluded to that point in his nightly address Sunday, saying that “Russians issue their documents to these Koreans, but they will not deceive anyone.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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