The Ukrainian Defence Forces have captured the first North Korean servicemen who fight for the ruscists in the Kursk region. Thus, the Security Service of Ukraine, which investigates and files the relevant crimes, has received indisputable evidence of the DPRK's participation in Russia's war against our country.

We are talking about two North Korean soldiers, one of whom was captured on 9 January 2025 by soldiers of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces 84 Tactical Group, and the other - by paratroopers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Immediately after being captured, the foreigners were provided with all the necessary medical care as stipulated by the Geneva Convention.

They were taken to Kyiv to carry out priority investigative measures. They are being held in appropriate conditions that meet the requirements of international law.

The POWs do not speak Ukrainian, English or russian, so communication with them is carried out through interpreters of Korean, in cooperation with South Korean NIS.

At the time of capture, one of the foreigners had a russian military ID card issued in the name of another person with registration in the Republic of Tuva, russian federation. The other had no documents at all.

During the interrogation, the DPRK soldier who was found with the ticket, told the Security Service of Ukraine, that he had been issued the document in russia in autumn 2024. At that time, he said, some of North Korea's combat units had one-week interoperability training with ruscist groups.

He stated that he was born in 2005, was a rifleman and had been serving in North Korea since 2021. It is noteworthy that the prisoner, just as russian military at the outset of the full-scale invasion, emphasises that he was allegedly going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine.

Another prisoner of war confirmed the testimony of his 'fellow soldier'. He gave some of his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw.

According to preliminary information, he was born in 1999 and has been serving in the DPRK army since 2016 as a scout sniper.

The Security Service of Ukraine is currently conducting the necessary investigative measures to establish all the circumstances of the DPRK military's participation in russia's war against Ukraine. The investigation is being conducted under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office under Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (planning, preparation, unleashing and waging an aggressive war).