Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine had captured several North Korean soldiers, but they could not be rescued due to serious injuries. According to him, the North Korean military suffered many casualties.
Zelenskyy announced this in an evening address.
This is probably the first time that North Korean soldiers have been captured by Ukrainian forces.
According to the president, the Russian military and North Korean overseers are not interested in the survival of the fighters from the DPRK. They are doing everything so that the Ukrainians cannot capture the North Korean soldiers.
"They are being finished off by their own people, there are such facts. And the Russians send them on assaults so that they have a minimum of protection," the president says.
He emphasizes that the Korean people should not lose their people in the battles in Europe. And this can also be influenced by Koreaʼs neighbors, in particular China.
What preceded
The capture of the first North Korean soldier was first reported by Ukrainian Telegram channels. Photos of a wounded, dirty man in military uniform were circulating online.
After that, the South Korean news agency Yonhap wrote that the North Korean soldier was captured on December 26 in Kursk, and a day later his condition deteriorated and he died. The intelligence did not provide other details.
The news of his death came a few hours after South Korea confirmed his capture.
Until Volodymyr Zelenskyyʼs confirmation, Ukraine did not officially comment on this.
Participation of the DPRK military in the war in Ukraine
Ukrainian intelligence reported on October 24 that the first soldiers from the DPRK had already arrived at the front in the Kursk region. There are approximately 12,000 soldiers, including 500 officers and three generals.
According to sources in the American newspaper The New York Times, Russia has assembled a group of 50,000 soldiers for an offensive in the Kursk region. The North Koreans are being trained in artillery strikes, basic infantry tactics and, most importantly, trench clearing, American officials say. This means that at least some of the North Korean soldiers will be used in frontal attacks on Ukrainian positions.
On December 14, Ukraine received confirmation that the Russians had begun using a “significant number” of soldiers from the DPRK in assault operations. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, on December 14-15, units of the DPRK army lost at least 30 soldiers killed and wounded, and three more went missing.
South Korean intelligence had data that at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed and another 1,000 wounded in fighting in Russiaʼs Kursk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers had already been killed or wounded.
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