A fake military ID discovered on a captured North Korean soldier in Kursk Oblast was issued in the name of a real resident of the Russian republic of Tyva (Tuva).

Source:Russian publication Agentstvo. News

Military ID found on North Korean PoW.

Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy on social media

Details : One of the two captured North Korean soldiers, as reported by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine's Security Service on 11 January, carried a military ID card bearing the name Antonin Aranchin, a Tyva native born in October 1998. The document reveals his birthplace (Turan, Tyva) and civilian occupation (tailor). The military ID card does not include the holder's portrait, date, or signature.

The investigation by Agentstvo.News revealed that the data of a real Russian citizen was used to create the fake identity.

The publication discovered in the personal data leaks a Tyva resident with the same surname, name, patronymic, and birth date. There is only one person in Russia with such data. The sole difference in his personal information is his place of birth: his military ID shows Turan, whilst Aranchin's passport shows Erzin (also in Tyva).

No connection between Aranchin and the tailoring business could be found in the leaks. In 2020, he worked in the forestry of Tes-Khemsky District of the Tyva Republic (no position was specified). In 2023, in an application for a microloan, he stated that he worked as a security guard in a grocery store, and in other applications from the same year, he stated that he was a pensioner. The microloans, according to the leaks, were repeatedly denied after a creditworthiness assessment.

The last application for a microloan (RUB7,000, or approx. US$68) made by Aranchin is dated 24 February 2024.

The news agency was unable to contact Aranchin using the phone numbers found in the data leaks. It was also impossible to contact his sister, who lives in Tyva. He and his sister have not used their VKontakte social media pages in over a decade.

Background : 

• On 11 January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the State Security Service reported that Ukrainian soldiers had captured two North Korean soldiers in Kursk Oblast.
• The Special Operation Forces soldiers showed a video of how they captured and transported a North Korean soldier from Russia. The other Korean soldier was shown to the Air Assault troops.

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