President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday that two North Vietnamese soldiers who were seriously injured have been taken as prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
The two men are receiving “necessary medical assistance” and are in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine ( SBU) in Kyiv, according to Zelensky.
The president expressed his gratitude to Ukrainian troops and Unique Operation Makes men for capturing the North Koreans.
He claimed that” this was not an easy task” and that Russian and North Vietnamese soldiers frequently execute wounded North Koreans” to remove any information of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine.”
The prisoners were apprehended on January 9 and immediately transported to Kyiv, according to a statement from the Russian intelligence service.
According to the knowledge service’s statement,” They are being held in suitable conditions that comply with international law.”
The prisoners ‘ interaction is handled through Korean speakers in collaboration with South Korean Nu ( National Intelligence Service ), according to the intelligence service, who said they do not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian.
Zelensky claimed in a speech posted on Telegram and X that the men were “talking to SBU authorities” and that he had instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to give editors access to them.
” The universe needs to know the truth about what is happening”, he added.
Zelensky even uploaded four photos to his speech. Two depicted wounded people. A dark Russian military passport was one of the photos.
The place of birth on the file is given as Turan, in the Tuva Republic, which is nearer to Mongolia.
One of the men had a Russian military ID cards issued in the name of another man with membership in the Tuva Republic when the prisoners were being taken, according to the intelligence services. The other was completely devoid of all files.
The man with the ID cards told surveillance personnel that he had been issued the report in Russia in the fall of 2024, according to the intelligence services during questioning.
He is alleged to have stated that at that period, some of North Korea’s battle units had one-week connectivity training.
” It is noticeable that the detainee… emphasises that he was reportedly going for education, not to fight a battle against Ukraine”, the SBU statement said.
According to the intelligence services, he claimed to have been a soldier serving North Korea since 2021 and was born in 2005.
According to SBU, the next prisoner is said to have written some of his comments because he had an damaged teeth. He was reportedly born in 1999 and had been a scout rifle in North Korea since 2016. According to the intelligence service, they thought he was.
According to the Geneva Convention, prisoners may be subjected to public interest protection and their speech of understanding when being interrogated.
The Russians “are trying to hide the fact that these are men from North Korea by giving them papers claiming they are from Tuva or other lands under Moscow’s control,” Zelensky’s office said in a speech.
” But these people are truly Koreans, they are from North Korea”, the speech from the mayor’s office said.
Russian forces operating in Ukraine were sent in 2014 without identifying signs on their clothing despite Kremlin protestations.
Vladimir Putin did not deny the allegations that Russia was using North Korean army in its conflict with Ukraine last year. He said it was Russia’s” royal decision”.
In December, South Korea’s intelligence agency reported that a North Korean soldier believed to have been the first to be captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine had died after being taken alive by Ukrainian forces.
Individually, the White House said North Korean forces were experiencing large deaths.
The Security Service of Ukraine stated that it is “is already conducting the needed analytical measures” to find out all the details of the DPRK military’s involvement in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
According to Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the research is being conducted under the legal advice of the Prosecutor General’s Business” ( planning, preparing, bringing, and waging an intense battle ).