Zelenskyy Claims They Were Sent for Training, Not Fighting

Ukraine Captures Two North Korean Soldiers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers who were wounded and taken to Kyiv. In a statement, Zelenskyy stated that the soldiers were captured in Russia's Kursk region and were now communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine. He added that they were receiving necessary medical assistance.

Zelenskyy shared images of the injured men but did not provide evidence of their North Korean origin. He noted the difficulty of capturing the soldiers, as Russian and North Korean forces typically execute their wounded to conceal their involvement in the war. Zelenskyy instructed Ukraine's security service to allow journalists access to the captured soldiers.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed the capture of the two soldiers on January 9th in the Kursk battlefield. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) shared details from their questioning, revealing that the soldiers did not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian, requiring communication through Korean interpreters.

One soldier claimed he believed he was sent for training, not to fight in the war. The SBU also discovered that one soldier possessed a Russian military ID card issued in another person's name, while the other had no documentation.

The soldier with the ID card stated he was born in 2005 and had served as a rifleman in the North Korean military since 2021. The other soldier, born in 1999, had been a scout sniper in the North Korean army since 2016.

White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby previously stated that Russia was using North Korean troops for "human wave" assaults on Ukrainian positions, resulting in heavy casualties. He described the treatment of these troops as expendable, ordering them on futile assaults against Ukrainian defenses.

Zelenskyy estimated that over 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in Kursk. He also mentioned attempts by Russian forces to conceal their losses by burning the faces of deceased North Korean soldiers.

In December, a North Korean soldier, believed to be the first captured by Ukrainian forces, died from his injuries. This incident was confirmed by South Korea's National Intelligence Service.

This story is still developing, and updates will be provided as they become available.