Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said forces operating in the Kursk region of Russia have captured two North Korean soldiers.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine's forces have captured two North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in Russia’s Kursk border region

It is Ukraine’s first confirmation it has detained North Korean troops since they were deployed last year. The move could shed light on Pyongyang’s role in the war.

Russia said on Saturday it had gained control of the settlement of Shevchenko in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region

Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way.

Russia has claimed that its forces captured a battered but strategic town in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a day after Kyiv launched a counterattack in the Russian region of Kursk.

Ukrainian soldiers captured North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Quote: "These are two soldiers who, although they sustained injuries, survived, were taken to Kyiv and are talking to investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine.