Last week, Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast — a first in this war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it “was not an easy task,” claiming Russian and North Korean forces often execute wounded North Koreans to erase any trace of their involvement. Now, with these soldiers in custody, Zelensky has offered a prisoner swap: the two North Koreans for Ukrainian soldiers held by Russia.

The soldiers, aged 20 and 26, were injured during their capture and are now receiving medical treatment in Kyiv. Interrogations, facilitated by South Korean intelligence due to language barriers, revealed that one soldier carried a Russian military I.D. while the other lacked documentation. In a video shared on his Telegram account, Zelensky presented two wounded individuals identified as North Korean soldiers captured in Russia’s Kursk region. He stated, “There should be no doubt left in the world that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North Korea.” He further noted that one of the captured soldiers expressed a desire to remain in Ukraine, while the other wished to return to North Korea.
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In 2024, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed an agreement tying their nations closer together militarily. Reports have since indicated that North Korea has supplied weapons and deployed approximately 12,000 troops to bolster Russia’s efforts in Ukraine — claims both nations had repeatedly denied. In October 2024, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegations as “another piece of fake news.” However, Ukraine’s capture of North Korean soldiers provides irrefutable proof, contradicting these denials. On January 13, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported that 300 North Korean soldiers had been killed and 2,700 wounded in Kursk alone. Now, Ukraine’s capture of North Korean soldiers provides irrefutable proof, contradicting these denials.

When asked who his commanders told him they would be fighting against, one of the captured North Korean soldiers admitted, “I was told that we were going to do training like an actual battle,” suggesting that he may have been misled or given incomplete information about his deployment. This aligns with reports that North Korean authorities often downplay or misrepresent the nature of military assignments. These deployments have forced North Korea’s military to adapt rapidly to modern warfare, including drone attacks and open-field combat — scenarios far removed from the controlled drills in their home country. Reports suggest North Korean troops have shown resilience and a willingness to adapt. “There’s evidence that they’re starting to learn how to use soldiers as decoys for drones while others shoot them down,” said Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and non-resident fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in an interview with the Kyiv Independent. He added, “It’s going to be a long, slow learning process for them, but they will learn — those who survive — and they’ll pass those lessons on to subsequent deployments to Kursk and to their military back home in North Korea.”

The capture of two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk shows the growing ties between authoritarian regimes, raising concerns about global peace and security. Capturing North Korean soldiers was an important goal for Ukraine since it gave them a chance to negotiate the return of Ukrainian detainees and provided unequivocal proof of Russia’s relationship. This moment exposes the extent Russia will go to sustain its war efforts, relying on support from distant and isolated allies. Moreover, this event also highlights the risks of these alliances for the future — North Korean troops, exposed to modern warfare, may take those lessons home and could create new challenges for neighboring countries and the international community. Ukraine’s efforts to reveal these connections matter beyond this war, and they help focus on holding aggressors accountable.