North Korean POWs reveal harsh isolation and Russian training
North Korean prisoners of war, who were interrogated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), confirmed intelligence reports about their transfer to Russian territory and their total isolation from any outside news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday, October 16, 2023.
"There is constant communication between the captured North Korean soldiers and the SBU investigators. The words of the prisoners confirm intelligence information about the relocation of these soldiers to Russian territory, their training by the Russians, and their complete isolation from outside news," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
North Korean soldiers are cut off from information
In the video attached to the president's post, one of the North Korean prisoners testified that several soldiers from that country received training on handling Russian weaponry.
According to him, the man arrived in Russia by ship with about a hundred compatriots and was then transported by train to areas engaged in combat.
I remember that it was probably a Russian ferry, but not a military one – it was used only for transporting goods. There were about 100 people on board," the North Korean recounted.
The prisoner reported that he joined the army at the age of 17. "After finishing school, all men usually join the military. I also joined the army, in the intelligence service, and served there all the time," he said.
He explained that he did not know he would participate in the war between Russia and Ukraine and later was unaware of whom he would be fighting against. When asked about the North Korean army losses, the prisoner responded that "there were many casualties in the battles."
To the SBU's question about what he knew of the world outside North Korea, the captured soldier replied: "Not much. I only know that South Korea has fewer mountains than North Korea," he admitted.
North Korean soldiers in captivity
On January 11, Zelenskyy announced that the Ukrainian army had captured two North Korean soldiers who were fighting against them in the partially Ukrainian-occupied Kursk region in Russia.
According to the authorities in Seoul, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent over 10,000 soldiers as "cannon fodder" to help Moscow in its fight against Kyiv, in exchange for Russian technological assistance concerning Pyongyang's weapons and satellite programs, which are subject to strict international sanctions.
Earlier, on January 6, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed during a visit to Seoul that at least a thousand North Korean soldiers fighting in the war against Ukraine on Russia’s side had been killed or injured.
