Editor-DN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that troops operating in Kursk have captured two North Korean soldiers, marking the first time that Kiev has captured North Korean soldiers ‘alive’.
Zelensky wrote: “Our troops have captured North Korean military personnel in the Kursk region. Two soldiers, although injured, survived and were flown to Kiev, where they are now in contact with the Ukrainian security service.
It was no easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military officials routinely execute their wounded to erase evidence of North Korean involvement in the war against Ukraine.
I am grateful to the soldiers of the Tactical Group No. 84 of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as our paratroopers, who captured these two men.
Like all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical attention. I have instructed the security service of Ukraine to give the general.alists gain access to these prisoners. The world needs to know the truth about what’s going on.”
According to Ukrainian and Western estimates, about 11,000 North Korean troops are stationed in the Kursk region.
“North Korea’s first POWs are now in Kiev,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibyga wrote on X, calling them “regular DPRK soldiers, not mercenaries.”
“We need maximum pressure against the regimes in Moscow and Pyongyang,” he wrote.
The SBU said the men did not speak Russian or Ukrainian and that the conversation was conducted through Korean interpreters, adding that it was “in cooperation” with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
Earlier on December 14, Zelensky said that the Russian military had started using North Korean troops for attacks.
“Today, we already have preliminary data that the Russians have begun using North Korean troops in their attacks — a significant number of them,” Zelensky said in a statement. Video address.
“The Russians are integrating them into joint units and using them in operations in the Kursk region.”
Zelensky also said that North Korean units had sustained “noticeable losses” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “dragged another state into this war.”
“The losses in this category are already noticeable. In essence, Moscow has dragged another state into this war, and it has done so to the maximum extent possible. If this is not an escalation, then what are many?” Arguing? It is Putin who is taking steps to widen and prolong this war, and he wants the world to face more problems in Asia ,” Zelinsky stressed.
Although the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” between North Korea and Russia was only signed in June 2024, military cooperation between the two states dates back more than seven decades.
Barter deal between Russia and North Korea?
A new report earlier claimed that Moscow received military aid from North Korea in exchange for food and grain.
Citing a lawmaker familiar with the situation, the South Korean publication The Korea Herald reported on November 3 that Russia was paying North Korea in cash, food and space technology to help with the conflict.
The US State Department has also confirmed these allegations. In a statement published on October 31, US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said: “We now estimate that North Korea has sent approximately 10,000 of its troops to eastern Russia for training.”
The publication quoted Ying Sung-lak, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee, as saying that North Korean soldiers are believed to be receiving $2,000 a month from Russia for their services, which if 10,000 soldiers receive. If multiplied, it makes at least 200 million dollars. The year
Additionally, the lawmaker cited intelligence briefings claiming that Moscow was playing a role in ending North Korea’s food crisis.
Referring to North Korea’s own declaration that the country produces an average of about four million tons of grain annually, including wheat, barley and rice, Wai noted: “The four million tons of grain that North Korea says it produces each year produces about one million, far short of what is needed to feed the country.
“If Russia is offering 600,000 to 700,000 tons of rice, that’s enough to cover more than half of what North Korea needs for the year,” he added. Backing up his argument, the lawmaker said Russia had sent 50,000 to 100,000 tons of rice to North Korea in the past. “So you can say that the 600,000 tons of rice aid is slightly more than what they got from Russia before,” he said.
More Wi claimed that Russia’s arms purchases were alleviating North Korea’s food shortages; He told the South Korean publication that a large part of the food shortage was “probably offset by the arms trade”. Now that Russia is buying artillery shells from North Korea.
“By selling a few containers worth of artillery shells, Pyongyang can afford much more than millions of tons of rice,” he asserted.
The Eurasian Times could not independently verify these claims.
by: ET desk
