North Korean POWs reveal isolation and training in Russia
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reported that prisoners from North Korea confirmed their transfer to Russia and a complete cut-off from external information.
North Korean POWs, interrogated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), confirmed their transfer to Russian territory and complete isolation from the outside world. There is ongoing communication between the captured North Korean soldiers and SBU investigators. The prisoners' statements corroborate intelligence regarding their relocation to Russia, training by the Russians, and complete isolation from external information - Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
North Korean soldiers in Russia
In a video attached to the Ukrainian president's post, one of the North Korean prisoners testified that several soldiers from his country were trained to handle Russian weaponry. According to his account, he and about a hundred compatriots arrived in Russia by ship and were then transported by train to combat areas. "I remember it was probably a Russian ferry, but not a military one - 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. "All men, after finishing school, usually join the military. I also joined the army, specifically military intelligence, after finishing school and served there continuously," he said. He explained that he did not know he would be participating in Russia's war with Ukraine and was initially unaware of whom he would be fighting. When asked about the North Korean army's losses, the prisoner replied that "there were many casualties in combat."
When asked by the SBU what he knew about the world outside of North Korea, the captured soldier replied: "Not much." He admitted, "I only know that South Korea has fewer mountains than North Korea." On January 11, Zelensky announced that the Ukrainian army had captured two North Korean soldiers who were fighting against it in the Kursk region, which is partially occupied by Ukrainian troops in Russia.
According to authorities in Seoul, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un sent over 10,000 soldiers as "cannon fodder" to assist Moscow in its conflict with Kyiv, in exchange for Russian technological assistance with Pyongyang's weaponry and satellite programs, which are under strict international sanctions. Earlier, on January 6, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed during a visit to Seoul that at least one thousand North Korean soldiers participating in the war against Ukraine on Russia's side had been killed or wounded.
