N. Koreans captured; New AI-export rule; 2,500 Guardsmen on wildfire duty; Mines found at IKEA; And a bit more.

Ukrainian officials say they’ve captured two North Korean soldiers during fighting in Russia’s Kursk region late last week. “Two soldiers, though wounded, survived and were transported to Kyiv, where they are now communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Saturday on social media.?

Ukrainian special forces and paratroopers carried out the personnel recovery, which the president said was “not an easy task” as “Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded.”?

“As with all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical assistance,” Zelenskyy said, adding, “I have instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to grant journalists access to these prisoners. The world needs to know the truth about what is happening.”

Kyiv is ready to hand over the captured soldiers in a prisoner exchange involving Ukrainian personnel currently held in Russia, the president said. “For those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available,” he said, noting, “those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity.”

For what it’s worth, the captured North Koreans are not requesting to defect to South Korea, a lawmaker in Seoul told Yonhap news agency following a briefing from intelligence officials. One of them reportedly said he wants to stay in Ukraine; he also claims he didn’t know he would be fighting against Ukraine, only training inside Russia. (The other soldier had so many bandages on his face he didn’t appear to be able to speak.)

Update: An estimated 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed fighting alongside Russia, and another 2,700 are believed to have been wounded, South Korean intelligence officials said in a closed-door briefing Monday.?

Read more at Yonhap, and Agence France-Presse has a bit more on the captures, reporting Sunday.

In video: Explore a “secret Ukraine bomb factory” cranking out new and repurposed ammunition, according to Ukraine’s United24, which posted its nearly six-minute video report to YouTube, here.?

From the region: Poland’s military recently fired a general after anti-tank mines were found in an IKEA store, Polish media reported last week. His name is Maj. Gen. Artur K?pczynski, and he was a top logistics officer, Politico reported Friday.?

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