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Russia's TurkStream claim and Ukraine's North Korean captives
Summary
A look back at 13 January 2025, when Moscow accused Kyiv of targeting a gas facility and Ukraine had announced the capture of two North Korean soldiers.
What did Moscow say Ukraine had tried to hit, and what had Kyiv just announced from the Kursk front? On 13 January 2025, two separate security stories were in view.
A gas station in Krasnodar Krai
Russia accused Ukraine of targeting the Russkaya compressor station in Krasnodar Krai in a drone attack two days earlier, on 11 January. The station feeds gas for the TurkStream pipeline. Moscow described the attack as having failed.
Two North Korean prisoners
On 11 January 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had captured two North Korean soldiers in Kursk Oblast, Russia. He said they were in healthy condition. It was the first such capture since North Korea entered the war. Two earlier North Korean prisoners of war had died of their injuries shortly after being taken.
North Korea's backing of Russia predated the Kursk fighting. It has supported Moscow since 2017, when it recognised the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. In July 2022 it recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, which are backed by Russia. Ukraine then severed diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
Taken together, the two reports showed the war reaching further into Russian territory and drawing in foreign troops. The captured soldiers were reported alive and well, unlike the earlier two prisoners.
