Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has finally opened up about the North Korean prisoners of war captured by his forces, saying several of them were seriously wounded and died of injuries.
Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian soldiers took them prisoner but they were injured critically and could not be resuscitated.
Today, I held a Staff meeting. There was a report from Commander Syrskyi on the situation at the front. The Donetsk directions remain the toughest, with updates from Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions as well. There are details regarding the situation in the Kursk region:… pic.twitter.com/teZXivUaeZ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 27, 2024
The Ukrainian leader said the North Korean soldiers were sent to the battlefield with "minimal protection", alleging that the Russian military and the North Korean supervisors are not taking any measures to ensure the survival of these soldiers.
The North Korean troops suffered heavily while fighting for Russia in the Kursk region.
However, there is no clarity on how many North Korean solidiers were captured by Ukraine and how many of them were dead. Ukraine believes that over 3,000 of them have been killed or injured in Kursk.
The intelligence estimates by the Ukrainian and South Korean agencies have pegged the total number of soldiers on the North Korean side at around 12,000.
Earlier, the South Korea's National Intelligence Service revealed that one of the wounded North Korean soldiers died from his injuries under Ukrainian custody.
However, Russia and North Korea have denied the presence of these soldiers.
Ukrainian authorities said the North Korean soldiers were given fake Russian IDs. Russian troops allegedly burnt the faces of the deceased North Koreans to hide their identities.
Reports suggest that many of the soldiers deployed to Russia are among the best from North Korea's Storm Corps, who are skilled in infiltration and assassination.
