North Korean soldiers allege forced transfer and isolation in Russia
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reported that prisoners from North Korea have confirmed their transfer to Russia and a complete cut-off from external information.
North Korean POWs, interrogated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), have confirmed information about their transfer to Russian territory and complete isolation from external reports. There is ongoing communication between the captured North Korean soldiers and SBU investigators. The words of the prisoners confirm intelligence information about the relocation of these soldiers to Russian territory, their training by Russians, and their complete isolation from external reports, Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
North Korean soldiers in Russia
In the 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, the man arrived in Russia by ship with about a hundred compatriots and was then transported by train to combat areas. "I remember it was probably a Russian ferry, but not military—used only for the transport of 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 go into the military. After finishing school, I also joined the army, into military intelligence, and served there the entire time," he said. He explained that he did not know he would take part in Russia's war with Ukraine and later was unaware of whom he would have to fight against. 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." "I only know that South Korea has fewer mountains than North Korea," he admitted. On 11 January, Zelensky announced that the Ukrainian army had captured two soldiers from North Korea who were fighting against it in the Kursk region, which is partially occupied by Ukrainian troops and located in Russia.
According to authorities in Seoul, North Korea's 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 regarding Pyongyang's weaponry and satellite programmes, which are subject to strict international sanctions. Earlier, on 6 January, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed during a visit to Seoul that at least a thousand North Korean soldiers participating in the war against Ukraine on Russia's side had been killed or wounded.
