Russia has twice asked Kyiv to hand over North Korean POWs

Russia has twice requested the exchange of two captured North Koreans whom Ukrainian forces took prisoner in Russia's Kursk Oblast in January 2025. Russian forces show no interest in other foreign prisoners who fought on Russia's side.

Source: Bohdan Okhrimenko, Head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, in an interview with Ukrinform

Quote: "Sometimes they [the Russians – ed.] have to be persuaded to take back their own citizens. This also applies to foreign nationals who fought for Russia. We already have quite a large number of them in captivity. The Russians are not interested in them during the negotiation process. There has not been a single request from the Russian side, except for the North Koreans. Several times they asked whether we are ready to hand over the North Koreans specifically."

Details: Asked whether the two North Koreans would be handed over to South Korea, where they had asked to go, Okhrimenko said the issue is delicate because, under international humanitarian law, responsibility for prisoners lies with the country that involved them in the armed conflict, namely Russia.

Quote: "If diplomats and lawyers find a mechanism that can make it possible, we are ready to consider the relevant proposals. Ukraine once ratified the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and we must comply with them, because Russia, although it does not comply with the Conventions itself, may blatantly accuse us of violating international humanitarian law and creating a precedent in this matter.

And recalling the Third Geneva Convention, there is the principle of non-refoulement. If a prisoner of war does not want to return, and there is no other mechanism, we will hold them for as long as necessary to resolve this issue."

Background:

• On 11 January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) reported that Ukrainian soldiers captured North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast.
• Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SOF) released a video showing their operatives capturing and transporting a North Korean soldier. Another captured North Korean soldier was also shown in a video posted by Ukraine's Air Assault Forces.
• Russian media reported that a fake military ID discovered on a captured North Korean soldier in Kursk Oblast had been issued in the name of a real person from the Russian republic of Tyva (Tuva).
• On 12 January, Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared the first video of the interrogation of the North Korean soldiers captured in Russia's Kursk Oblast and stated that Ukraine is prepared to return them to their home country as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia.

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