Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to return two soldiers captured by North Korea to their homeland in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

“For those North Korean soldiers who do not want to return, there may be other options,” Zelensky said on social media. He added, “Those who express their desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about the Korean War will be given That opportunity”.

Ukraine said on Saturday the men were arrested on January 9.

When asked last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not deny Russia’s use of North Korean troops in its war in Ukraine, saying it was Russia’s “sovereign decision.”

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said the two were currently receiving medical treatment in Kiev.

The intelligence service said they spoke only Korean and were being questioned with the assistance of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.

Zelensky posted photos on social media on Saturday showing the injuries.

He also shared a photo of a red Russian military card showing his birthplace as Turan, in the republic of Tuva near Mongolia.

Intelligence services said that when the prisoners were captured, one of the soldiers was holding a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person registered in the Republic of Tuva. The other had no papers.

During interrogation, one of the soldiers told security personnel that he obtained the document in Russia in the fall of 2024, the intelligence service said.

He is said to have said that at that time some North Korean combat units conducted a week-long interoperability training.

“It is worth noting that the prisoner… emphasized that he was allegedly there for training and not to fight against Ukraine,” the SBU statement said.

Zelensky’s office said in a statement on Saturday that Russia was “trying to hide the fact that the soldiers were from North Korea by providing them with documents claiming they were from Tuva or other territories under Moscow’s control.”

The intelligence report said the soldier, who was carrying an ID card, said he was born in 2005 and had been serving in North Korea as a rifleman since 2021.

According to the SBU, the second prisoner gave some answers in writing due to an injury to his jaw.

Intelligence services said he was believed to have been born in 1999 and had been serving as a scout sniper in North Korea since 2016.

The Geneva Conventions provide that prisoners should be questioned in a language they understand and that prisoners must be protected from public curiosity.

BBC News and other international media have not confirmed Ukraine’s claims about the prisoners and their arrest.

Ukraine and South Korea reported late last year that North Korea had sent at least 10,000 troops to Russia.

The White House said North Korean troops were suffering mass casualties.

In December, South Korea’s intelligence agency reported that a North Korean soldier believed to be the first North Korean soldier captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine died after being captured alive by Ukrainian forces.

“There is no doubt that the Russian military relies on North Korea’s military assistance,” Zelensky said on Sunday.