The last written notes of a North Korean soldier have revealed how Pyongyang’s troops are being used as “bait” to lure out and shoot down Ukrainian drones.

The diary of the dead man, published by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, described the reckless tactic along with expressions of love for Kim Jong-un and a “longing” to return to his homeland.

On one notebook page, a crude drawing shows a stickman soldier breaking cover to attract the attention of a drone, while his two comrades lie in wait to shoot it down.

“When the bait stands still, the drone will stop and it will be shot down,” the soldier wrote in scrawled handwriting, translated by The Wall Street Journal.

The drone-trapping instructions detailed how the “human bait” should stand within seven metres of the Ukrainian drone which will then be “neutralised with precision shooting”.

Military observers and Ukrainian commanders have said that North Korean soldiers have not been trained in modern warfare and are being used as cannon fodder by their Russian allies.

They are often sent out across open fields in large groups, without armoured vehicles or artillery back-up, to test Ukrainian defences, with smaller groups of Russian special forces following behind.