Ukrainian field medics say they saved one of Kyiv’s first North Korean prisoners of war shortly after he attempted to kill himself and left a large, self-inflicted wound to his jaw, according to a new documentary released by the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially announced the capture of two POWs in Jan. 2025, including one with a heavily bandaged face due to an apparent jaw injury. At the time, Kyiv did not disclose whether the reconnaissance sniper born in 1999 sustained the wound in combat or whether it was self-inflicted.

Ukrainian service members who captured the DPRK soldier