Ukraine captured two wounded North Korean troopers who have been combating on behalf of Russia in a Russian border area, South Korea’s intelligence service stated, confirming an account from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.
Seoul’s Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS) instructed AFP it has “confirmed that the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers on January 9 in the Kursk battlefield in Russia.”
The affirmation comes after Zelenskyy stated in a submit on the Telegram messaging app that the 2 captured North Korean troopers have been wounded and brought to Kyiv, the place they’re speaking with Ukrainian safety companies SBU.
SBU launched video that seems to indicate the 2 prisoners on beds inside jail cells. The authenticity of the video couldn’t be independently verified.
On this unverified picture shared by the Ukrainian army, an obvious captured North Korean soldier with accidents is sitting in a mattress inside a cell. (Ukraine Army handout)
A health care provider interviewed within the SBU video stated one soldier suffered a facial wound whereas the opposite soldier had an open wound and a decrease leg fracture. Each males have been receiving medical therapy.
On this unverified picture shared by the Ukrainian army, an obvious captured North Korean soldier with accidents is mendacity in a mattress inside a cell. (Ukraine Army handout)
SBU additionally stated one of many troopers had no paperwork in any respect, whereas the opposite had been carrying a Russian army ID card within the identify of a person from Tuva, a Russian area bordering Mongolia.
Ukraine’s army says North Korean troopers are outfitted in Russian army uniforms and carry pretend army IDs of their pockets, a scheme that Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s army intelligence company, says may imply Moscow and “its representatives at the U.N. can deny the facts.”
Regardless of Ukrainian, U.S. and South Korean assertions that Pyongyang has despatched 10,000 – 12,000 troops to battle alongside Russia within the Kursk border area, Moscow has by no means publicly acknowledged the North Korean forces.
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Whereas stories of their presence first emerged in October, Ukrainian troops solely confirmed engagement on the bottom in December.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy put the variety of killed or wounded North Koreans at 4,000, although U.S. estimates are decrease, at round 1,200.
Troopers are seen at Kim Il Sung Sq. in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Oct. 12, 2020. (AP Photograph/Jon Chol Jin, File)
Regardless of North Korea’s struggling losses and preliminary inexperience on the battlefield, Ukrainian troopers, army intelligence and specialists recommend first-hand expertise will solely assist them develop additional as a combating pressure.
“For the first time in decades, the North Korean army is gaining real military experience,” Yusov stated. “This is a global challenge — not just for Ukraine and Europe, but for the entire world.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
