The DPRK soldiers are expected to be used in the fight for the Kursk region of Russia

Summary

North Korean troops sent to Russia to support its war in Ukraine remain sidelined due to poor training and logistical issues, according to Western officials.

These soldiers are expected to relieve Russian troops in secondary positions to free up forces for frontline battles in regions like Kursk, though they are unlikely to see combat in eastern Ukraine.

The war continues to take a massive toll, with over 700,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded since February 2022, while both sides face challenges replacing losses.

Russia’s reliance on poorly trained recruits and prison conscripts highlights its growing manpower issues.

  • Rimu@piefed.socialEnglish
    36·
    21 days ago

    More poorly trained than a convict 2 weeks out of prison? Doesn’t seem possible…

    • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.worldEnglish
      171·
      21 days ago

      There’s probably a base level of competence someone who grew up in modern society has without training that the North Koreans don’t have.

      Like even if a convict has never operated a drone, there’s probably a good amount of them that have played FPS games. That experience can be used as a launching board into proper training.

      Meanwhile the North Koreans might have absolutely zero experience with video games and smartphones, and extremely limited experience with computers in general. There’s so much you’d have to teach them before you can even start drone training.

      • pornpornporn@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        52·
        20 days ago

        there’s probably a good amount of them that have played FPS games. That experience can be used as a launching board into proper training.

        1- rush into the enemies

        2- get shot in the face

        3- call your squadmates a racial slur

        Yeah I don’t think online FPS strategies would work very well in a real war

        • tacosplease@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          20 days ago

          You joke, but Call of Duty improved my laser tag abilities considerably. Not to say laser tag equals war, but some strategies and concepts carry over.

          I bet the North Koreans are struggling with things like “left click the mouse see to select what you want. Right click the mouse to bring up an options menu.” “No. Don’t point the mouse at the screen. Just move it around on top of this little pad. See the arrow moving when you do that?”

        • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          20 days ago

          Well it’s more like

          1. Use a device that is similar to a PlayStation controller to command a drone to rush into enemies
          2. Keep that drone alive long enough for it to crash into enemy armor and explode
          3. Call your enemies a racial slur
          4. Post the entire thing to a sketchy streaming service set to techno music.

          So yeah there’s actually a non-zero amount of commonality there.

        • MintyFresh@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          20 days ago

          Lol your 12&3 is a pretty good summary of Russian military history. The thing about Russians is there’s always more Russians.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        20 days ago

        North Korea has smartphones. Now idk if the sort of people they send to die in Ukraine have ever used one, but they do have them, and apparently they’re awful

        NK has developed an entire cybercrime network even

        • Woht24@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          20 days ago

          Yeah but that’s like saying the US build nuclear reactors.

          You and your buddies sure don’t.

            • Woht24@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              20 days ago

              I don’t think so. They’ve gone on about it a lot and supposedly could have the ability but I don’t think they’ve ever done a successful launch or detonation of a nuclear weapon.

    • BleatingZombie@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      21 days ago

      I feel like tv and movies do more than we think for giving a base-layer of military training. I’m not saying it’s LIKE military training, but people have at least seen what they’re going to do before training

      • TotesIllegit@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        21 days ago

        Training people can be harder when the trainees have to unlearn bad habits or knowledge. Ask anyone who has tutored previously self-taught students an artform or craft.

        In some ways, media exposure can help to introduce broad concepts, and sometimes there are excellent examples in media (My Cousin Vinny and Legally Blonde have been used in some US law school course curriculum to show how the parts of the judicial system are supposed to operate, iirc), but oftentimes preconceived notions can hinder training for the real thing.