Ukraine captures two North Korean soldiers in Kursk region (video)

Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. The soldiers, who were wounded in battle, were transported to Kyiv for medical treatment and interrogation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the capture on social media, expressing gratitude to the soldiers of tactical group No. 84 of the Special Operations Forces, who captured one of the soldiers on January 9, and the paratroopers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He emphasized the difficulty of the task, noting that Russian and North Korean forces typically execute their wounded to cover up their involvement in the war.

The two North Korean soldiers are now receiving medical care in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. Zelensky also said in his post on social media platform X that he has instructed the SSU to grant journalists access to the prisoners, highlighting the importance of transparency and the need for the world to know the truth about North Korea’s role in the conflict.

Our soldiers have captured North Korean military personnel in the Kursk region. Two soldiers, though wounded, survived and were transported to Kyiv, where they are now communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine.

This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North… pic.twitter.com/5J0hqbarP6

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 11, 2025

This marks the first time that Ukraine has captured North Korean soldiers alive since Pyongyang deployed over 10,000 troops to support Russia in the war. The soldiers are being questioned with the assistance of South Korean intelligence, as they do not speak Ukrainian, English or Russian, says an SSU press update, adding that one of the soldiers had a Russian-style military ID on him, but which was issued in the name of another person, while the other soldier had no documents on him.

The SSU said it is conducting the investigation of the two captured North Korean soldiers under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office under Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (planning, preparation, unleashing and waging of an aggressive war).

The SSU also released a video explaining this development. The video can be watched below also.

The capture underscores the ongoing challenges and complexities of the war in Ukraine, as well as the international dimensions of the conflict.

Featured photo does not show the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine. The photo is taken from the Press Center Photo Gallery of the Security Service of Ukraine’s website, is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license and has the description that says “The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police neutralized a criminal group that carried out russia’s “orders” to commit arson in Ukraine. As a result of a special operation in Kherson, Odesa and Mykolaiv, the organizer and three members of the criminal group, coordinated by the FSB, were detained.” The Ukraine president’s post on X shared the photos of the two wounded but bandaged DPRK soldiers, but since they might be seen as graphic by some of our readers, we decided against displaying them here.