Zelensky offers exchange of North Korean soldiers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is ready to hand over two captured soldiers from North Korea to return to their country in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners who are in Russia.

“For North Korean soldiers who do not want to return, there may be other options,” Zelensky said on television, adding “those who show that they want to bring peace closer by spreading the facts of this war in Korea will be given that opportunity”.

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

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

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

He only speaks Korean and is being questioned with the help of South Korea’s NIS (National Intelligence Service), the intelligence agency said.

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

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

The intelligence agency said that when the prisoners were captured, one of the soldiers had a Russian military ID issued in the name of someone registered in the Tuva Republic. The other had no documents.

The police said that during interrogation, one of the soldiers told the security forces that he was given the document in Russia in the fall of 2024.

He is said to have said that at that time, some of the fighting units in North Korea had a week’s training.

“It is interesting that the prisoner … emphasizes that he is going to study, not to fight against Ukraine,” the SBU said.

Zelensky’s office said on Saturday that the Russians are “trying to hide that these are soldiers from North Korea by giving them documents stating that they are from Tuva or other areas controlled by Moscow”.

The intelligence agency said the soldier who carried the ID card said he was born in 2005 and has been serving in North Korea as a gunner since 2021.

The second inmate reportedly gave his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw, according to the SBU.

The intelligence agency said they believe he was born in 1999 and has been serving in North Korea as a scout sniper since 2016.

The Geneva Convention states that interrogation of prisoners must be conducted in a language they understand and prisoners must be protected from public scrutiny.

BBC News and other international media have not yet confirmed the Ukrainian story of the prisoners and their capture.

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

The White House said the North Korean military is facing many casualties.

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

Zelensky said on Sunday “there should be no doubt that the Russian military depends on military support from North Korea”.