Russia has leaned on its increasingly close ally North Korea for supplies of artillery shells and ballistic missiles to prosecute a grinding war in Ukraine. In October, the partnership entered a new phase as Pyongyang dispatched thousands of soldiers to bolster Russia’s armed forces.

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

Zelensky’s announcement came after he posted photos on social media of two men he said were North Korean soldiers captured in Russia’s Kursk region.