Russians launched intense artillery shelling as Ukraine’s defence forces evacuated a captured North Korean soldier from the battlefield.

Source: Radio Liberty, citing servicemen from the Special Operations Forces (SOF) involved in the operation

Details: SOF operator, known as Greek, revealed that Russian troops made every effort to prevent Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces evacuating a North Korean soldier from the forest.

Quote: "They probably figured out that we were trying to take their soldier and the massive artillery shelling began. They fired very close and very accurately. They didn’t want us to take him out. They even used an FPV drone, but fortunately, it missed."

Details: SOF soldiers told journalists that they had been learning Korean phrases in preparation for the potential of taking North Korean soldiers prisoner.

This was the third attempt to capture North Korean troops. The first soldier apprehended was gravely injured and died soon after his capture, while the second committed suicide. As a result, the third prisoner was immediately examined and closely supervised to ensure he did not harm himself.

Quote: "Perhaps he was in pain shock from his injury and hadn’t yet grasped what was happening. We approached him very quickly. At the same time, our comrades with us controlled his every movement, keeping him in their sights to ensure the group’s safety."

More details:The captive was also given an anaesthetic injection and then handed over to the medics. The Ukrainian soldier said that he was very thirsty and hungry.

Background: 

• On 11 January, it was reported that Ukrainian forces had captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
• Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SOF) have released a video showing their operatives capturing and transporting a North Korean soldier, an event previously reported by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Another captured North Korean soldier has also been shown in a video posted by Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces.
• A fake military ID discovered on a captured North Korean soldier in Kursk Oblast was issued in the name of a real person from the Russian republic of Tyva (Tuva). 
• South Korea plans to hold consultations with Ukraine regarding the potential transfer of North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine, should they agree to defect.

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