Zelensky offers exchange of North Korean soldiers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is willing to hand over two captured soldiers from North Korea back to their home country in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

“For those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available,” Zelensky said on social media, adding “those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity”.

Ukraine said on Saturday that the men were captured on 9 January.

When asked last year, President Vladimir Putin did not deny Russia was using North Korean troops in its war on Ukraine, saying it was Russia’s “sovereign decision”.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the two men are in Kyiv and receiving medical care.

They only speak Korean and are being questioned with the assistance of the South Korean NIS (National Intelligence Service), the intelligence service said.

Zelensky posted photos on social media on Saturday showing the men, who are injured.

He also shared a photo of a red Russian military card that gives the place of birth as Turan, in the Tuva Republic, which is close to Mongolia.

The intelligence service said that when the prisoners were captured, one of the soldiers had a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person with registration in the Tuva Republic. The other had no documents.

The intelligence service said that during interrogation, one of the soldiers told security personnel that he had been issued the document in Russia during the autumn of 2024.

He is alleged to have stated that at that time, some of North Korea’s combat units had one-week interoperability training.

“It is noteworthy that the prisoner…emphasises that he was allegedly going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine,” the SBU statement said.

Zelensky’s office said in a statement on Saturday that the Russians “are trying to hide the fact that these are soldiers from North Korea by giving them documents claiming they are from Tuva or other territories under Moscow’s control”.

The intelligence service reported that the soldier carrying the ID card said he was born in 2005 and had been serving North Korea as a rifleman since 2021.

The second prisoner is reported to have given some of his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw, according to SBU.

The intelligence service said it believed he was born in 1999 and had been serving North Korea as a scout sniper since 2016.

The Geneva Convention states that the questioning of prisoners should be carried out in a language they understand and prisoners must be protected against public curiosity.

BBC News and other international media have not yet verified Ukraine’s account of the prisoners and their capture.

Ukraine and South Korea reported late last year that North Korea had sent at least 10,000 troops to Russia.

The White House said North Korean forces were experiencing mass casualties.

In December, South Korea’s intelligence agency reported that a North Korean soldier believed to have been the first to be captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine had died after being taken alive by Ukrainian forces.

Zelensky said on Sunday “there should be no doubt left that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North Korea”.