Jan 12, Kathmandu- Ukraine has claimed that two North Korean soldiers have been captured in the Kursk region, the Ukrainian military has claimed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has quoted the military as saying that two North Korean soldiers have been captured in the Kursk region amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Zelensky said, "Our soldiers have captured North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. They are injured and have been taken to Kyiv for necessary investigation. They are currently negotiating with Ukrainian security services." Ukrainian President Zelensky thanked the soldiers and paratroopers of Tactical Group No. 84 of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces for successfully capturing the North Korean soldiers.

He highlighted the challenges involved in the operation, noting that Russian and North Korean troops have been executing their wounded to prevent evidence of North Korean involvement in the conflict. "It was not an easy task," he said. "Russian troops and other North Korean military personnel routinely execute their wounded to eliminate any evidence of North Korean involvement in the war against Ukraine."

"I am grateful to the soldiers of the Tactical Group No. 84 of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and our paratroopers who managed to capture these two people," he said. Zelenskyy said that the two North Korean soldiers were receiving medical assistance as prisoners of war and instructed Ukraine's security services to provide journalists with access to the prisoners.

"Like all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical assistance. I have instructed the Ukrainian security service to provide journalists with access to these prisoners." "The world needs to know the truth about what is happening, and this will provide this information," he added. According to Ukrainian and Western estimates, about 11,000 North Korean soldiers are stationed in Kursk, where Ukrainian troops seized much of the territory after a cross-border offensive in August 2024. Earlier, the Ukrainian military said that North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia were given fake military documents with Russian names and birth places, according to the American news agency CNN on December 22, 2024.