The Ukrainian Defense Forces in Kursk captured two North Korean soldiers. They were wounded but survived, both were taken to Kyiv, and are communicating with the SBU investigators.
This was reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The prisoners do not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian; they are communicated with through Korean translators in cooperation with South Korean intelligence, SBU added.
At the time of capture, one of the foreigners had a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person registered in the Republic of Tuva (Russian Federation). The other was without documents.
During interrogation, the North Korean military man, who was found with the ticket, told the SBU officers that this document was issued to him in Russia in the fall of 2024. Then, according to him, part of the North Korean combat units coordinated with Russian groups for one week.
He himself stated that he was born in 2005, held the position of rifleman, and had been doing military service in North Korea since 2021. He claims that he was going to train, not to the war against Ukraine.
Another prisoner of war confirmed the testimony of his "partner". According to preliminary data, he was born in 1999 and has been serving in the DPRK army since 2016 as a sniper-reconnaissance officer.
Currently, the SBU is conducting the necessary investigative measures to establish all the circumstances of the participation of the DPRK military in the Russian Federationʼs war against Ukraine. The investigation is being conducted under Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
One of the soldiers was captured by Special Operations Forces (SOF) fighters, namely operators of Tactical Group No. 84 of SOF. After being evacuated from the battlefield, they provided the North Korean prisoner with first aid.
A second North Korean soldier was captured by paratroopers, SBU reported.
Participation of the DPRK military in the war in Ukraine
Ukrainian intelligence reported on October 24, 2014, 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 (known as GUR) 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.
Zelensky first reported on the capture of North Korean soldiers on December 27, but then they died from their wounds.
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