A North Korean military official revealed whether their troops captured Ukrainians, stating that Russian forces had trained them for this purpose.

This is evidenced by a video from the interrogation shared by President Vladimir Zelensky.

The soldier was asked whether he and his unit had been informed about the orders regarding the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians in the territories of Ukraine or Russia.

“I had this training: if we captured a soldier from Ukraine, we show him a picture of a house. One picture is a house, the other is a weapon. And we let him choose. If he chooses the house, he is released; if he chooses the weapon, we hand him over as a prisoner,” the man replied.

The North Korean claims that neither he nor the fighters from his unit took Ukrainian soldiers captive.

This soldier also mentioned that he does not clearly remember the circumstances under which he was captured. According to him, there was a battle where he was injured, followed by a retreat.

“Since I was wounded, I couldn’t move and was alone for about 3, 4, or 5 days. After that, Ukrainian forces found me, gave me an injection, and transported me here by vehicle,” said the captive.

When asked if his Russian military ID contained real photos, name, surname, and patronymic, the North Korean noted that the photo and name were not his.

As Zelensky pointed out: “We are establishing the facts. We are checking all the details. The world will know the full truth about how Russia uses such guys, who grew up in a complete information vacuum, knowing nothing about Ukraine.”

Recall that earlier this fighter claimed that wants to stay living in Ukraine.

First North Korean Soldiers in Captivity

On January 11, it became known that Ukrainian fighters captured the first two soldiers from North Korea in the Kursk region of Russia. They were injured but survived. They were taken to Kyiv, where they are being interrogated by SBU investigators.

The captives do not speak Ukrainian, English, or Russian, so communication with them is conducted through Korean translators in collaboration with South Korean intelligence. Both stated that they were going for training, not for war against Ukraine.

After this, Ukraine announced that it is ready to return North Korea’s soldiers if the country helps organize an exchange for Ukrainian fighters held by Russia.