Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, made a stunning revelation on the 11th of January, 2025, announcing that his forces had captured two North Korean soldiers alive in Russia’s Kursk region.
This marks the first time Ukraine has publicly confirmed the capture of North Korean troops alive since their reported involvement in the war last autumn.
According to Kyiv and its Western allies, North Korean regular troops, initially estimated to number over 10,000, entered the conflict on Russia’s side in October.
Zelenskiy shared the news via a post on X, stating that the captured soldiers had been transported to Kyiv and were now cooperating with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the nation’s domestic intelligence agency.
“As with all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical assistance,” Zelenskiy noted.
He added that journalists would soon be granted access to interview the captured troops.
Kyiv reports that North Korean forces are actively fighting in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a significant incursion in August.
Ukraine claims to still hold several hundred square kilometers of territory in the area.
Additionally, Kyiv and its allies allege that Pyongyang has been bolstering Russia’s war effort with massive supplies of artillery shells.
Notably, Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops in Kursk, and there has been no immediate response from Pyongyang or the Kremlin regarding the latest developments.
This revelation follows earlier claims by Ukraine that it had previously captured North Korean soldiers in combat, though those individuals were reportedly gravely wounded and did not survive.