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The whole lot we find out about ‘North Korean troopers’ captured by Ukraine


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Ukraine has discovered “irrefutable proof” of North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s battle in opposition to his nation, president Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned this week as he introduced the seize of two North Korean troopers.

The 2 males had been reportedly captured throughout preventing in Russia’s Kursk border area, the place the Ukrainian forces launched an incursion final August.

North Korea has deployed some 12,000 troops to assist Russia’s battle effort, Ukraine has mentioned, echoing assessments by American and South Korean intelligence businesses.

Kyiv beforehand claimed to have caught a North Korean soldier in Kursk on 27 December, however later mentioned he had died of his wounds.

The 2 troopers captured on Saturday had been dropped at Kyiv for interrogation.

Who’re the captured troopers?

Footage launched on social media by Mr Zelensky present two males resting on cots in a jail cell with bars over the home windows. Each put on bandages, one round his jaw and the opposite round his fingers and wrists.

Photo shared by Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram shows one of the captured soldiers

Photograph shared by Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram reveals one of many captured troopers (Telegram/Volodymyr Zelensky)
Photo shared by Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram shows one of the captured soldiers

Photograph shared by Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram reveals one of many captured troopers (Telegram/Volodymyr Zelensky)

Mr Zelensky didn’t give their names however the Ukrainian intelligence service claimed that certainly one of them carried a Russian navy ID card issued within the title of an individual from the Tuva republic bordering Mongolia. The opposite man possessed no paperwork when he was captured.

Moscow was “attempting to cover the very fact these are troopers from North Korea by giving them paperwork claiming they’re from Tuva or different territories underneath Moscow’s management. However these persons are truly Koreans, they’re from North Korea,” the president’s workplace mentioned, with out providing any proof.

Cell holding the captured soldiers is marked ‘Camp for Prisoners of War’

Cell holding the captured troopers is marked ‘Camp for Prisoners of Warfare’ (Telegram/Volodymyr Zelensky)

For the reason that captured troopers didn’t converse English, Russian or Ukrainian, they had been interviewed with the assistance of a Korean translator, the Safety Service of Ukraine mentioned.

The soldier with the ID card purportedly mentioned he was born in 2005 and was serving within the North Korean navy as a rifleman since 2021.

The Russian military ID card of one of the captured soldiers

The Russian navy ID card of one of many captured troopers (Telegram/Volodymyr Zelensky)

The opposite prisoner answered his interrogators in writing as a consequence of a extreme harm to his jaw. He purportedly mentioned that he was serving within the North Korean military since 2016 as a scout sniper.

What have they revealed concerning the battle?

One of many troopers purportedly mentioned throughout his interrogation that he had been advised he was on a coaching train and didn’t know he was preventing the Ukrainian forces. The testimony was confirmed by the opposite soldier, the safety service mentioned.

The person claimed to have hid in a shelter throughout preventing and stayed there till he was discovered by the Ukrainians a couple of days later. His unit had suffered important losses and meals and water shortages for a number of days earlier than his seize, he purportedly mentioned. The unit had acquired a single week of coaching alongside Russian troops earlier than being deployed to the frontline.

“This job was not simple,” Mr Zelensky mentioned concerning the seize of the 2 males. “Often, Russia and different North Korean navy personnel end off their wounded and do every little thing doable to make sure that no proof of the participation of one other state, North Korea, within the battle in opposition to Ukraine is preserved.”

South Korea’s intelligence company claimed to have discovered North Korean memos calling on its troopers to kill themselves earlier than seize by the Ukrainians.

What occurs to the troopers now?

Mr Zelensky mentioned that he was prepared to ship the 2 troopers to North Korean chief Kim Jong Un if he had been to facilitate a prisoner alternate with Russia.

“Ukraine is able to hand over Kim Jong Un’s troopers to him if he can organise their alternate for our warriors who’re being held captive in Russia,” he mentioned on X on Sunday.

“For these North Korean troopers who don’t want to return, there could also be different choices out there,” he added. “Particularly, those that categorical a need to carry peace nearer by spreading the reality about this battle in Korean shall be given that chance.”

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