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Ukraine captured two wounded North Korean soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia in a Russian border region, South Korea’s intelligence service said, confirming an account by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.
Seoul National Intelligence Service (NIS) he told AFP It has “confirmed that the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers on January 9 at the Kursk battlefield in Russia.”
The confirmation comes after Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that the two captured North Korean soldiers were wounded and taken to kyiv, where they are communicating with the Ukrainian SBU security services.
The SBU released a video that appears to show the two prisoners in beds inside the jail cells. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.
In this unverified photo shared by the Ukrainian military, an apparently captured and injured North Korean soldier sits on a bed inside a cell. (Ukrainian military brochure)
A doctor interviewed in the SBU video said one soldier suffered a facial wound while the other had an open wound and a fracture to his lower leg. Both men were receiving medical treatment.
In this unverified photo shared by the Ukrainian military, an apparently captured and injured North Korean soldier lies on a bed inside a cell. (Ukrainian military brochure)
The SBU also said that one of the soldiers did not have any documents, while the other was carrying a russian military identification card in the name of a man from Tuva, a Russian region bordering Mongolia.
Ukraine’s military says North Korean soldiers are dressed in Russian military uniforms and carrying fake military IDs in their pockets, a plan that Andrii Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, could mean Moscow and “its representatives in the UN can deny the facts”. “
Despite claims by Ukraine, the United States and South Korea that Pyongyang has sent between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to fight alongside Russia in the Kursk border region, Moscow has never publicly acknowledged the North Korean forces.
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While reports of their presence first emerged in October, Ukrainian troops did not confirm their presence on the ground until December.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy estimated the number of North Koreans killed or wounded at 4,000, although US estimates are lower, at around 1,200.
Soldiers are seen at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on October 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)
Despite the losses North Korea suffered and its initial inexperience on the battlefield, Ukrainian soldiers, military intelligence and experts suggest that first-hand experience will only help them further develop as a fighting force.
“For the first time in decades, the North Korean military is gaining real military experience,” Yusov said. “This is a global challenge, not only for Ukraine and Europe, but for the entire world.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
