POW recounts heavy casualties and shock at being sent to fight in Russia.
A North Korean soldier, captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, has revealed significant losses among Pyongyang’s troops fighting alongside Moscow. The soldier, injured during the conflict, shared his account in an official video released on January 20, describing the catastrophic toll his unit suffered while being interrogated by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine has now captured two North Korean soldiers from the region, both of whom have given testimonies about their experiences. However, Moscow has yet to acknowledge the presence of North Korean troops in the area, despite independent confirmations from both Seoul and Washington.
In a video posted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the young soldier, lying in a hospital bed, spoke of the heavy casualties his comrades faced. He explained that after joining the battle on January 3, he witnessed numerous deaths and injuries among his fellow soldiers. When asked about the scale of the casualties, he confirmed that his unit had suffered significant losses.
Earlier, the soldier described hiding in a dugout during the offensive on January 3, witnessing the deaths of his comrades before he was injured and captured two days later. Serving in a reconnaissance unit, the soldier mentioned that while some of his fellow North Korean soldiers had been trained to operate Russian military equipment, he himself had not received such training.
He revealed that he had been sent to Russia without prior knowledge of his mission. Believing he was being transported for a different purpose, he travelled with around 100 other conscripts aboard a cargo ship and later by sleeper train. At the age of 17, the soldier had been conscripted into the North Korean military and had been serving ever since, with no prior understanding of his deployment to Russia.
