Ukraine's surrender hotline is tempting North Koreans to desert, promising they'll be well fed

• Ukraine is offering comfortable beds and lukewarm meals to North Korea troops who surrender to them.
• "You do not request to dice senselessly successful different country," Ukraine's subject intelligence agency said.
• North Korea is believed to person sent thousands of troops to thief Russia conflict Ukraine.

Ukraine is enticing Russia-bound North Korean troops pinch comfortable beds and lukewarm meals successful speech for their surrender.

"To nan soldiers of nan Korean People's Army: You, who were sent to thief nan Putin regime, you do not request to dice senselessly successful different country," Ukraine's subject intelligence agency said successful an October 23 statement connected its "I Want to Live" Telegram chatbot.

The "I Want to Live" task is simply a work that allows Russian soldiers to surrender by dialing their hotline. Access to nan hotline and chatbot was blocked successful Russia backmost successful October 2022, though it tin still beryllium accessed via VPN.

"Surrender! Ukraine provides you pinch protection, food, and warmth," nan connection said, adding that Russians soldiers who had surrendered were now surviving successful "comfortable barracks" and fixed "three basking meals a day."

Besides nan statement, Ukraine published a Korean-language video showcasing its prisoner-of-war camps arsenic good arsenic nan meals served there.

The video, which was besides posted connected X and YouTube, ended pinch a telephone number and QR codification for North Korean soldiers looking to interaction nan Ukrainian authorities.

Ukraine's defense ministry did not respond to a petition for remark from Business Insider sent extracurricular regular business hours.

North Korea is believed to person sent thousands of troops to assistance Russia successful its conflict against Ukraine, per officials from South Korea, Ukraine, and nan US.

On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said successful an evening reside connected Telegram that North Korean troops "may look connected nan battlefield" immoderate time now.

"Ukraine will beryllium forced to really conflict against North Korea successful Europe," Zelenskyy added.

Russia's usage of North Korean troops is different parameter that it's relying much connected friends to prolong its wartime efforts. Putin, for his part, has allotted 40% of nan nationalist budget to defense manufacturing, and signed a pact pinch Pyongyang that'll unfastened up different root of warfare supplies and ammunition.

But Ukraine's effort to promote North Korean troops to surrender faces chopped hurdles. North Korea experts earlier told Business Insider of nan strict measures Pyongyang takes erstwhile sending citizens abroad.

Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., an master successful North Korean defense astatine nan Center for International and Strategic Studies, told BI that North Korea's Kim is apt to nonstop only "politically reliable people" to nan frontline.

Those sent, Bermudez said, would astir apt beryllium accompanied by officials from nan ruling Workers' Party of Korea who "file reports connected everybody."

Bruce W. Bennett, a defense interrogator and North Korea master astatine RAND, told BI that nan state tries to rein successful its overseas citizens pinch nan threat of punishing their extended family backmost if they defect.

This, Bennett said, is why North Korean diplomats are almost ne'er allowed to bring their full family pinch them to their overseas postings.

As such, defectors consequence hurting their family if they determine to fly from North Korea, Bermudez told BI.

"North Korea believes successful generational punishment," he added.