Two wounded North Korean troopers have been captured as prisoners of battle by Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Saturday.
The 2 males are receiving “needed 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 activity”, claiming that Russian and North Korean troopers normally execute wounded North Koreans “to erase any proof of North Korea’s involvement within the battle in opposition to Ukraine”.
The Ukrainian intelligence service stated in an announcement that the prisoners had been captured on 9 January and instantly after had been “supplied with all the required 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 converse Ukrainian, English or Russian, “so communication with them is carried out via interpreters of Korean, in cooperation with South Korean NIS (Nationwide Intelligence Service)”.
In an announcement posted on Telegram and X, Zelensky stated the troopers had 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 going on,” he added.
Zelensky additionally posted 4 pictures alongside his assertion. Two present wounded males. One of many pictures confirmed a pink Russian army card.
The fatherland on the doc is given as Turan, within the Tuva Republic, which is near Mongolia.
The intelligence service stated that when the prisoners had been captured, one of many troopers had a Russian army ID card issued within the identify of one other individual 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 in the course of the autumn of 2024.
He’s alleged to have acknowledged that at the moment, a few of North Korea’s fight models had one-week interoperability coaching.
“It’s noteworthy that the prisoner…emphasises that he was allegedly going for coaching, to not struggle a battle in opposition to 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 must be carried out in a language they perceive and prisoners have to be protected in opposition to 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 beneath Moscow’s management”.
“However these persons are really 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 – had been despatched with out figuring out markings on their uniforms.
Final yr, when President Vladimir Putin was requested about Russia utilizing North Korean troops in its battle 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 first to be captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine had died after being taken alive by Ukrainian forces.
Individually, the White Home stated North Korean forces had been experiencing mass casualties.
The Safety Service of Ukraine stated it “is at the moment conducting the required investigative measures to ascertain all of the circumstances of the DPRK army’s participation in Russia’s battle in opposition to Ukraine”.
“The investigation is being performed beneath the procedural steering of the Prosecutor Basic’s Workplace beneath Article 437 of the Prison Code of Ukraine (planning, preparation, unleashing and waging an aggressive battle).”
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, 2025-01-11 15:50:00
