Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday that Ukrainian troops have captured two North Korean soldiers who were fighting alongside Russian forces. Both soldiers were taken alive but had sustained injuries.

This is the first instance of Ukraine claiming to have detained North Korean soldiers since they were deployed to support Russia in the conflict starting last October, as noted by both Ukraine and the U.S.

Zelensky shared that the capture took place in Kursk, a Russian border region that Ukraine is attempting to defend after launching an incursion there last summer. The captured soldiers have been moved to Kyiv and are currently engaging with Ukrainian authorities.

“This operation wasn’t straightforward: Russian troops and North Korean military units typically eliminate their injured personnel to conceal North Korea’s role in the conflict against Ukraine,” said Zelensky.

According to John Kirby, National Security Advisor at the White House, North Korean forces have endured “significant losses” in the area, with over a thousand casualties within just a week. Some have reportedly chosen to take their own lives to evade capture by Ukrainian forces.

North Korean troops, primarily assigned to frontline duties in Kursk as light infantry and mortar units, often lack combat experience, as indicated by a senior U.S. military official in December.

Trump announces intention to meet with Putin

<pZelensky’s update arrives as President Joe Biden prepares to transfer power to President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. This week, Trump revealed that he is in the process of organizing a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He wants to meet, and we are making arrangements,” Trump stated during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Thursday. “We need to resolve this war,” he remarked, describing it as a “bloody mess.”

The Kremlin responded the following day, expressing openness to the meeting, although specific plans had yet to be confirmed.

Trump’s close relationship with Putin and his assertion that he could swiftly bring an end to the conflict have caused concern among Ukraine and its allies about the possibility of reducing or ending U.S. support for Ukraine. Incoming Vice President J.D. Vance has proposed freezing Ukraine’s borders as they currently stand and indefinitely suspending Ukraine’s NATO membership aspirations.

Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, the U.S. has provided over $30 billion in military aid and resources. Just before Biden’s departure, his administration announced a new $500 million aid package featuring air defense missiles, air-to-ground munitions, and support equipment for F-16 fighter jets.

As Biden prepares to exit the presidency, his administration imposed tough sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies along with more than 180 oil tankers on Friday. Many of these vessels transport oil to India and China, which have increasingly taken over as key markets for Russian oil after Russia was largely cut off from European markets post-invasion.

A senior official described these sanctions as “the most impactful penalties so far against the Russian energy sector, the primary source of funding for the Kremlin’s military campaigns.”

In October, South Korea disclosed that over a thousand North Korean troops had been dispatched to training bases in eastern Russia. Ukraine’s intelligence agency collaborated with technology in facial recognition and artificial intelligence to identify North Korean military personnel in the Donetsk region.

Putin has continuously reinforced his ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, having signed a defense agreement during the Russian leader’s visit to North Korea in June.