Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to hand over two soldiers captured from North Korea to their homeland in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.
“For North Korean soldiers who do not want to return, there may be other options available,” Zelensky said on social media, adding that “those who express their desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korea will be given a chance.” . “That opportunity.”
Ukraine said on Saturday that the men were arrested on January 9.
When asked last year, President Vladimir Putin did not deny that Russia was using North Korean forces in its war on Ukraine, saying it was Russia's “sovereign decision.”
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the two men were in Kyiv and receiving medical care.
The intelligence service said they spoke only Korean and were being interrogated with the help of the South Korean National Intelligence Service.
Zelensky posted photos on social media on Saturday showing the injured men.
He also shared a photo of a red Russian military card indicating the place of birth as Turan, in the Republic of Tuva near Mongolia.
Intelligence said that when the prisoners were arrested, one of the soldiers was carrying a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person registered in the Republic of Tuva. The other has no documents.
The intelligence service said that during interrogation, one of the soldiers told security personnel that he obtained the document in Russia during the fall of 2024.
He allegedly stated that at the time, some North Korean combat units received one week of interoperability training.
“It is worth noting that the prisoner… confirmed that he was on his way to training, and not to fight a war against Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Security Service said in a statement.
Zelensky's office said in a statement on Saturday that the Russians “are trying to hide the fact that these are North Korean soldiers by giving them documents claiming that they are from Tuva or other regions under Moscow's control.”
The intelligence service reported that the soldier with the ID card said he was born in 2005 and has been working in North Korea as a soldier since 2021.
The second prisoner reportedly gave some of his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw, according to the State Security Service.
Intelligence said it believed he was born in 1999 and had been serving in North Korea as a reconnaissance sniper since 2016.
The Geneva Convention stipulates that interrogation of prisoners must be conducted in a language they understand and prisoners must be protected from public curiosity.
BBC News and other international media have yet to verify Ukraine's account of the prisoners and their arrest.
Ukraine and South Korea announced late last year that North Korea had sent at least 10,000 soldiers to Russia.
The White House said that North Korean forces are suffering heavy casualties.
In December, South Korea's intelligence agency reported that a North Korean soldier believed to be the first to be captured while supporting Russia's war in Ukraine had died after being captured alive by Ukrainian forces.
“There should be no doubt that the Russian army depends on military assistance from North Korea,” Zelensky said on Sunday.
