Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he’s prepared at hand over two captured troopers from North Korea again to their residence nation in change for Ukrainian prisoners of conflict in Russia.
“For these North Korean troopers who don’t want to return, there could also be different choices obtainable,” Zelensky stated on social media, including “those that specific a need to deliver peace nearer by spreading the reality about this conflict in Korean might be given that chance”.
Ukraine stated on Saturday that the boys had been captured on 9 January.
When requested final yr, President Vladimir Putin didn’t deny Russia was utilizing North Korean troops in its conflict on Ukraine, saying it was Russia’s “sovereign resolution”.
The Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated the 2 males are in Kyiv and receiving medical care.
They solely communicate Korean and are being questioned with the help of the South Korean NIS (Nationwide Intelligence Service), the intelligence service stated.
Zelensky posted images on social media on Saturday displaying the boys, who’re injured.
He additionally shared a photograph of a purple Russian navy card that offers the native land as Turan, within the Tuva Republic, which is near Mongolia.
The intelligence service stated that when the prisoners had been captured, one of many troopers had a Russian navy ID card issued within the title of one other particular person with registration within the Tuva Republic. The opposite had no paperwork.
The intelligence service stated that in interrogation, one of many troopers informed safety personnel that he had been issued the doc in Russia through the autumn of 2024.
He’s alleged to have acknowledged that at the moment, a few of North Korea’s fight items had one-week interoperability coaching.
“It’s noteworthy that the prisoner…emphasises that he was allegedly going for coaching, to not struggle a conflict in opposition to Ukraine,” the SBU assertion stated.
Zelensky’s workplace stated in an announcement on Saturday that the Russians “try to cover the truth that these are troopers from North Korea by giving them paperwork claiming they’re from Tuva or different territories below Moscow’s management”.
The intelligence service reported that the soldier carrying the ID card stated he was born in 2005 and had been serving North Korea as a rifleman since 2021.
The second prisoner is reported to have given a few of his solutions in writing as a result of he had an injured jaw, in line with SBU.
The intelligence service stated it believed he was born in 1999 and had been serving North Korea as a scout sniper since 2016.
The Geneva Conference states that the questioning of prisoners ought to be carried out in a language they perceive and prisoners have to be protected in opposition to public curiosity.
BBC Information and different worldwide media haven’t but verified Ukraine’s account of the prisoners and their seize.
Ukraine and South Korea reported late final yr that North Korea had despatched not less than 10,000 troops to Russia.
The White Home stated North Korean forces had been experiencing mass casualties.
In December, South Korea’s intelligence company reported {that a} North Korean soldier believed to have been the primary to be captured whereas supporting Russia’s conflict in Ukraine had died after being taken alive by Ukrainian forces.
Zelensky stated on Sunday “there ought to be little doubt left that the Russian military relies on navy help from North Korea”.
