forces of Ukraine captured two North Korean servicemen who were fighting alongside Russian troops in the Kursk region bordering Russia, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Saturday.
He made the comment a few days after Ukraine new attacks on Kursk began to retain the territories captured in August's blitzkrieg invasion, which led to the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II.
Moscow's counterattack left Ukrainian forces stretched thin and demoralized, killing and wounding thousands and retaking more than 40% of the 984 square kilometers (380 square miles) of Kursk captured by Ukraine.
Social media of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images
“Our soldiers captured North Korean soldiers in Kursk. These are two servicemen who, although wounded, survived, were taken to Kyiv and are in contact” with Ukrainian special services, Zelensky said in a message on the Telegram messaging app.
He shared photos of two men resting on beds in a room with bars on the windows. Both wore bandages, one around their jaws and the other around both hands and wrists.
Social media of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images
Zelensky said that it was “not easy” to capture the soldiers alive. He claimed that Russian and North Korean forces fighting in Kursk tried to hide the presence of North Korean soldiers, including killing wounded comrades on the battlefield, to avoid capture and interrogation by Kiev.
Security Service of Ukraine SBU on Saturday provided more information about the two soldiers. The statement said one had no documents at all, while the other had a Russian military ID in the name of a man from Tuva, a Russian region bordering Mongolia.
“The prisoners do not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian, so communication with them takes place through Korean translators in cooperation with South Korean intelligence,” the report says.
According to the SBU, one of the soldiers claimed that he was told that he was going to Russia for training and not to fight against Ukraine.
Lyubov Yemets/Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
The agency said both men had been given medical treatment in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and were being investigated “in cooperation with South Korean intelligence.”
A – said a high-ranking Ukrainian military officer last month that several hundred North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk had been killed or wounded in action.
The official provided the first significant estimate of North Korean casualties, which came weeks after Ukraine announced that Pyongyang had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in its nearly 3-year war against its much smaller neighbor.
The The White House and the Pentagon Last month, it was confirmed that North Korean troops were fighting on the front lines mainly in infantry positions. They fought with Russian units, and in some cases even independently near Kursk.