Ukrainian drones buzzed over the frigid terrain of Kursk for a while before Kyiv’s special forces pounced.
The eyes in the sky gazed down on a copse of spindly trees in western Russia, hooking onto where North Korean forces were coalescing, a Ukrainian special operations forces commander, who is being identified only by his call sign, Green, told Newsweek.
“They were preparing to launch an assault on Ukrainian positions in the area,” Green said.
The special forces commanders, though, wanted to strike first. Also on their agenda, Green said, was to achieve what no other unit had yet managed to do: to finally capture a North Korean soldier alive.
The elite Ukrainian unit, draped in camouflage and ghillie suits, was given orders to creep toward their North Korean counterparts, Green said.
Soldiers of the Ukrainian 3rd Army Assault Brigade of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) “Azov” ride in an armored U.S. Hummer vehicle in position near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023.
Soldiers of the Ukrainian 3rd Army Assault Brigade of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) “Azov” ride in an armored U.S. Hummer vehicle in position near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023.
AP Photo/Libkos
“We approached like ghosts,” Green said. The forest shielded the advancing Ukrainians, obscuring them from the sights of the North Koreans who never saw them coming.
“As soon as an opportunity presented itself,” Green said, “we struck.”
Thousands of North Korean fighters became embroiled in Russia’s war in Ukraine last fall, bound up with the Russian forces trying to shove Ukrainian troops from the border Kursk region of western Russia. Kyiv had launched an incursion into Kursk in August 2024, quickly seizing a chunk of territory in what became the most significant foreign invasion of Russian soil since World War II.
For months, Moscow failed to fully unfurl Ukraine’s grip on parts of Kursk, even when backed by the fighters Pyongyang and its dictator, Kim Jong Un, sent to Russia along with stocks of missiles and shells.
‘The Battle Was Swift’
Assessments of the effectiveness of the North Korean troops have been mixed, although the casualty counts are thought to be painful. Ukraine said last month that North Korean troops had sustained more than 4,000 casualties, including both those killed and injured. But Kyiv has also conceded that North Korea’s military technology, not least the accuracy of Pyongyang’s missiles, have improved through its exposure to combat in Kursk.
“The battle was swift,” Green said. Ukraine had caught the North Koreans off-guard, so “they panicked” and retreated, the soldier said.
But the other mission remained. No one had succeeded in taking a North Korean soldier into their custody alive, although one of Pyongyang’s soldiers had died from his injuries when being evacuated by another unit, Green said.
In late December, South Korea’s NIS spy agency said a North Korean soldier had been captured by Ukraine, quickly followed by reports the soldier had died from extensive injuries.
Roughly two weeks later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had captured two wounded North Korean soldiers in Kursk. They were quickly passed into the custody of Ukraine’s SBU security service.
More than two months on, Ukraine’s future in Kursk looks bleak. A fresh wave of North Korean troops helped Russia successfully execute its renewed offensive in the region and retake the border town of Sudzha, the last remaining major Ukrainian-held settlement in Kursk, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing Ukrainian soldiers and officials familiar with recent battles.
Ukraine had said it did not intend to permanently control swathes of Kursk, but Kyiv’s hold on Russian soil was an embarrassment to the Kremlin and provided Ukraine with a bargaining chip against Russia in ceasefire talks.
“I cannot say that the Kursk current situation happened because of North Koreans, but the effect of their participation is quite substantial,” an unnamed Ukrainian lawmaker told the Post.
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If Russia fully retakes Kursk, it’s not clear what will happen to the North Korean soldiers who have, for months, fought in a foreign country. Continuing to battle Ukraine in lieu of a ceasefire deal would give their ranks with more battlefield experience, but would rack up more casualties and risk miring North Korea further into a war thousands of miles away.
But there is scant indication that casualty counts are the foremost worry for Russia and North Korea.
Taking Their Own Lives
It was Green’s Tactical Group No. 84 that Zelensky singled out for praise when he announced to the world in January that North Korean soldiers had been captured alive for the first time. The group has not yet captured any more, the fighter said.
It was “not an easy task,” Zelensky remarked at the time. Ukrainian and Western intelligence indicated the North Koreans were taking their own lives rather than face being captured alive.
But for the fighters on the ground in Kursk, it was hard not to be struck by how young the North Korean fighter looked as he lay sprawled under a tree, dazed as a bloodstain bloomed on the fabric of his pants, Green said.
The special forces chanced upon him as they fired on troops trying to flee, the stunned soldier cajoled into handing over the rifle he brandished.
“That brief moment of confusion bought us time,” the Ukrainian soldier recalled, although other special forces kept their weapons trained on the North Korean fighter as he hesitated, ultimately deciding to hand over his hand grenade.
The special forces had learned snippets of Korean phrases and the kind of responses they would likely get back, Green said, so they yelled out in the soldier’s native tongue.
Gesticulating, the North Korean soldier acted out the movement and sound of a drone strike hitting close to him, Green said.
Reports drifting out of the battles in Kursk indicated North Koreans were ill-equipped to contend with the drone-dominant warfare that has defined the now more than three years of conflict between Kyiv and Moscow. Recovered scribblings of a North Korean soldier described Pyongyang’s forces as “bait” for Ukrainian drones, according to a Wall Street Journal account from January.
Ukrainian soldiers tried to prop up the North Korean fighter between them, but he “screamed” each time he shifted his weight onto his injured leg, Green said. In a clip provided by the Ukrainian military, the prisoner of war yelps as he is half-carried away.
The special forces then made up a makeshift stretcher to carry the soldier away, dodging mines and the incessant boom of artillery fire. Footage provided by the Ukrainian military shows special forces speaking with the soldier, before a Ukrainian fighter wearing a camera rushes toward the ground during a deafening strike.
Green said Russian troops had very likely spied the evacuation. “Pyongyang, Pyongyang,” was the soldier’s constant chant, chiming with the artillery and drone attacks, Green said. After he received painkillers, food and water, the soldier—dehydrated and starved—gestured for a cigarette, which was handed over to him, Green added.
The operation was a thorough success for Ukraine, Green said. “Every phase was executed precisely as planned, with no complications and, most importantly, no casualties on our side.”
However the Ukrainian was disappointed to miss out on the chance to press the North Korean recruit about just how much information managed to send back to Pyongyang.
South Korea’s Chosun Daily newspaper reported last month that North Korean troops had been told that Ukrainian drone operators were South Korean soldiers.
Seoul’s government said earlier this week that Seoul would accept North Korean prisoners captured by Ukraine, should they prefer to travel to South Korea rather than return home, north of the border on the divided peninsula.