Ukraine says it captured 2 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had captured two North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in the Russian border region of Kursk. This is the first such claim by Kyiv since North Korea sent thousands of soldiers to Moscow to support its war effort on the other side of the world.

Zelenskyy’s remarks come days after Ukraine, facing a slow Russian offensive in the east, launched a new attack in Kursk to hold territory seized in a lightning invasion in August. This marked the first time since World War II that Russian territory had been occupied. A counterattack by Moscow has exhausted and demoralized Ukrainian forces, causing thousands of casualties, and has reclaimed over 40% of the 984 square kilometers (380 square miles) of the Kursk region previously held by Ukraine.

“Our soldiers captured North Korean soldiers in Kursk. The two soldiers, although wounded, survived, were taken to Kyiv, and are communicating with Ukrainian security services,” Zelenskyy posted on the Telegram messaging app. He also shared photos of the two men lying on beds in a room with barred windows. Both were bandaged, one on his jaw and the other on his hands and wrists.

Zelenskyy said that capturing the soldiers alive “was not easy.” He claimed that Russian and North Korean forces fighting in Kursk have tried to conceal the presence of North Korean soldiers, including killing wounded comrades on the battlefield to prevent them from being captured and interrogated by Kyiv. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Saturday that one of the soldiers had no documents, while the other carried a Russian military ID with the name of a man from Tuva, a Russian region bordering Mongolia.

According to the SBU, one of the soldiers claimed he was told he was going to Russia for training, not to fight in Ukraine. He said his North Korean combat unit had only one week of training with Russian forces before being sent to the front lines. A senior Ukrainian military official said last month that hundreds of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in Kursk had been killed or wounded in combat. Ukraine estimates that 10,000 to 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia. The White House and Pentagon have said North Korean troops are primarily operating in infantry positions on the front lines. They fight alongside Russian forces and, in some cases, operate independently near Kursk.

Three years into a full-scale invasion that has left Russia in control of one-fifth of Ukraine, Zelenskyy has hinted that he hopes controlling Kursk will help force Moscow into negotiations to end the war. But last month, multiple Ukrainian and Western officials in Kyiv told The Associated Press that they feared the Kursk gambit could weaken the entire 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) front line, while Ukraine is losing valuable territory in the east.

Zelenskyy welcomed new U.S. sanctions against Russia. Zelenskyy spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden after the U.S. announced a new package of sanctions against Russia's critical energy sector, according to Zelenskyy's Telegram account. The sanctions target more than 180 oil tankers that are allegedly part of a Kremlin shadow fleet used to evade oil sanctions, as well as Russian energy giants, traders, oilfield service companies, and energy officials. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, some of the sanctioned ships are also allegedly transporting sanctioned Iranian oil.

“It is very important that the United States has now hit Russia’s shadow tanker fleet, as well as companies such as Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, which accumulate funds for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin personally. He must feel the cost of his war, losing it from his wallet,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the two Russian energy giants that were blacklisted along with dozens of subsidiaries. In response to the sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that "Washington's hostile actions will not go unanswered," but did not provide any details of planned retaliatory measures.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Ukrainian drones struck apartment buildings overnight in western Tambov province, blowing out windows and damaging balconies of two five-story buildings, acting regional Gov. Yevgeny Pervishov said. He said there were injuries but gave no details. The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Saturday that it shot down 85 Ukrainian drones, mainly targeting the south and west. At the same time, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked its neighbor overnight on Saturday with 74 drones. The relatively high number of Ukrainian drones cited by Russian officials appears to suggest that Kyiv is working to increase domestic weapons production, with a possible aim to inflict damage comparable to that caused by Moscow.