Two North Korean soldiers were taken to prison during fighting in Russia's southern Kursk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday.
The men had survived despite their combat injuries and were taken to Kiev, where they were interrogated by Ukrainian intelligence officers, Zelensky posted on social networks.
The media would give the prisoners a chance, he said: “The world needs to know what is happening. “
This was not his first report about the North Koreans being captured. However, former prisoners had died of their injuries, according to Zelensky.
North Korea is believed to have sent around 12,000 troops to Russia to support its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is set to be launched in February 2022.
Moscow is currently using North Koreans to reinforce its units in the counteroffensive in the Kursk region, parts of which Ukrainian troops captured in a surprise offensive last August.
According to estimates by both Ukraine and the US, the North Koreans are suffering heavy losses there.
Zelensky attached photos to his posts that allegedly showed the prisoners.
It is difficult to capture North Korean soldiers alive, he wrote. The Russian and North Korean military would rather kill the injured North Koreans than let them be taken prisoner, he said.
“Like all prisoners, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical care,” Zelensky wrote.
Under international humanitarian law, prisoners of war may not be exhibited in public. According to the Red Cross, reports about prisoners of war are not prohibited, but the prisoners should not be identified.
Zelensky was also shown a Russian military ID card, according to which one of the North Koreans was given a place of birth in the Russian republic of Tuva.
“Russia is giving these documents to the Koreans, but they are not deceiving anyone,” Zelensky said in a video. “Russia itself is doing everything to prolong the war and extend it and she will take responsibility for it.”
Drones hit houses in small Russian town
A drone struck two apartment buildings in the small town of Kotovsk in the Tambov region of western Russia, injuring several people, Governor Evgeny Pervyshov said early Saturday.
Pervyshov said on his Telegram channel that several people were injured from glass shards and were receiving treatment. The governor said there were no fires and the buildings sustained only minor damage.
Russian state news agency TASS said the drones were Ukrainian. The group said that authorities in other parts of Russia also reported Ukrainian drone attacks on Friday night.
