Ukraine captured two wounded North Korean troopers who had been preventing on behalf of Russia in a Russian border area, South Korea’s intelligence service mentioned, confirming an account from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.
Seoul’s Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS) told AFP it has “confirmed that the Ukrainian army captured two North Korean troopers on January 9 within the Kursk battlefield in Russia.”
The affirmation comes after Zelenskyy mentioned in a publish on the Telegram messaging app that the 2 captured North Korean troopers had been wounded and brought to Kyiv, the place they’re speaking with Ukrainian safety providers SBU.
SBU launched video that seems to point out the 2 prisoners on beds inside jail cells. The authenticity of the video couldn’t be independently verified.
On this unverified photograph shared by the Ukrainian army, an obvious captured North Korean soldier with accidents is sitting in a mattress inside a cell. (Ukraine Navy handout)
A health care provider interviewed within the SBU video mentioned one soldier suffered a facial wound whereas the opposite soldier had an open wound and a decrease leg fracture. Each males had been receiving medical remedy.
On this unverified photograph shared by the Ukrainian army, an obvious captured North Korean soldier with accidents is mendacity in a mattress inside a cell. (Ukraine Navy handout)
SBU additionally mentioned one of many troopers had no paperwork in any respect, whereas the opposite had been carrying a Russian military ID card within the title 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 faux army IDs of their pockets, a scheme that Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s army intelligence company, says might imply Moscow and “its representatives on the U.N. can deny the information.”
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 studies 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 counsel first-hand expertise will solely assist them develop additional as a preventing drive.
“For the primary time in a long time, the North Korean military is gaining actual army expertise,” Yusov mentioned. “This can be a international problem — not only for Ukraine and Europe, however for your entire world.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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