Zelensky ready to exchange two captured North Korean soldiers with Russia

INTERNATIONAL – President Volodymyr Zelensky said this Sunday, January 12 ” ready “ to hand over to Pyongyang the two North Korean soldiers that Ukraine says it captured in Russia, as part of a prisoner exchange. “Ukraine is ready to hand over its soldiers to Kim Jong Un if he can organize their exchange for our fighters who are detained in Russia”he wrote on his X account.

kyiv announced on Saturday that it had taken prisoner two North Korean soldiers injured during fighting in the Russian region of Kursk. South Korea’s national intelligence service confirmed the Ukrainian version on Sunday, telling AFP that the two soldiers captured on January 9 were indeed North Korean.

“These are two soldiers who, although injured, survived and were transported to kyiv where they are speaking with SBU investigators”the Ukrainian security services, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram on Saturday. “It was not an easy task: usually the Russians and other North Korean soldiers finish off their wounded and do everything to erase evidence of the participation of another state, North Korea, in the war against ‘Ukraine’he continued.

This Sunday evening, the Ukrainian president clarified that“there will undoubtedly be more” of North Korean soldiers captured in the future by kyiv. “For North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return (to their country), there could be other possible options”continued the Ukrainian president: those who “will tell the truth about this war in Korean will have this opportunity”.

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has acknowledged that North Korean soldiers were deployed to fight Ukrainian forces. Volodymyr Zelensky said again on Sunday evening that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot now do without military support from Pyongyang”.

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