Ukraine captures first North Korean prisoners of war as Russia advances in Donetsk
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Ukraine’s security service says the North Korean POWs were ‘irrefutable evidence’ of Pyongyang’s involvement in Russia’s invasion. Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers and taken them prisoner for the first time, transporting them to Kyiv for questioning in what the country’s security services say is “irrefutable evidence” of Pyongyang’s involvement in Russia’s war.
![[One of the two pictures posted by Volodymyr Zelensky showing North Korean prisoners of war]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/11/14/GhAjse1WEAABTJQ.jpg)
Both soldiers were captured on 9 January in the Russian border region of Kursk, Kyiv said. Volodymyr Zelensky posted pictures of the two, saying “the world needs to know the truth about what is happening”. One had his jaw bandaged due to an apparent wound.
![[Zelensky sauid he would allow media access to the soldiers for transparency]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/11/14/GhAjyhUWAAAlRsQ.jpg)
Ukraine’s security service, known as the SBU, said one of the two had fake Russian identification documents. A third North Korean soldier was captured last month but died from injuries. Russia and North Korea both deny their troops are working together in Kursk; Britain, Ukraine, the United States and South Korea all believe otherwise.
Previously, it was reported that many of roughly 12,000 North Korean soldiers believed to have deployed to Russia had been handed fake Russian documents to conceal their true identity. Communication with the two prisoners, reportedly born in 2005 and 1999, is being done through translators and in cooperation with South Korean intelligence.
The SBU added that one of the soldiers claimed he had been told by his seniors that he was deploying to a training mission, only to find himself fighting on the frontline in Kursk. The claims echo previous reports that Russian soldiers believed they were heading to training missions only to find themselves fighting in Ukraine.
