South Korea's spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia's war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces. Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russian troops, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August.

Ukrainian forces have captured an injured North Korean soldier who was sent to support Russia's war, South Korea's spy agency confirmed Friday. The soldier is believed to be the first North Korean prisoner of war captured since December, when Pyongyang deployed forces to support Russia's war in Ukraine.

South Korean intelligence confirmed that Ukrainian forces captured a wounded North Korean soldier during operations in Russia's Kursk Oblast, Yonhap reported on Dec. 27, citing the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS).