27 Russians, including officers, surrender to Ukrainian fighters in Kursk

In the Kursk region of Russia, 27 soldiers of the occupying Russian army surrendered to fighters of the Ukrainian airborne assault troops. Among the prisoners of various ages are officers. The prisoners said that they chose this path to survive. The Ukrainian paratroopers also appealed to other fighters of the Russian army fighting in the Kursk region, asking them to surrender. In this way, they will save their lives.

Recently, Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region Kyiv has repeatedly said North Korean troops are fighting in the Kursk region, where it launched an incursion in August, claiming control over several hundred square kilometres of territory.

However, this is the first time that the country’s intelligence services said they have had the opportunity to question North Korean soldiers. While Ukraine had previously claimed to have captured North Korean soldiers in combat, it said they had been badly wounded and died shortly afterwards. The prisoners do not speak Ukrainian, English or Russian, so communication with them takes place through Korean translators in cooperation with South Korean intelligence.

The Ukrainian military has so far remained silent on the operation, though reporting on Jan. 5 that the most intense fighting across the front line was happening in Kursk Oblast. The new Ukrainian attacks came five months after Kyiv launched its cross-border incursion into Russia in August 2024, surprising Western leaders and temporarily boosting the morale among the exhausted troops elsewhere withdrawing little by little. Some of Ukraine’s most elite units, along with the less experienced ones, took part in the operation.