London, Feb 16, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – As the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, Britain has announced it has helped to train 10,000 Ukrainian volunteer soldiers.
Operation Interflex sees the recruits undergo an intense five-week programme, learning the international laws of armed conflict, trench warfare, urban fighting, weapons handling and firing, medical training and dealing with explosives.
The programme includes international trainers as well as British Army experts at sites across the United Kingdom.
The Ministry of Defence invited the media to observe the operation at an undisclosed remote location in the north of England.
The course seeks to harness the Ukrainiansâ âoffensive spiritâ and give them the skills to fight effectively and survive, a senior officer said.
The recruits have little or no military experience, and are given similar training to what British Army reserves would receive.
The course however, has been tweaked to reflect the reality of the war in Ukraine, and has direct input from Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) soldiers who have fought there.
The British forces working on the training programme will have a humble approach to the recruits, and were looking to learn from the experienced Ukrainian soldiers who were also working on the exercise, the senior officer said.
Platoon after platoon of recruits battled their way through a trench warfare exercise, where a series of trenches were dug into the northern moorland and defended.
Smoke grenades and loud bangs heightened the reality of the exercise, which culminated in a planned attack on a wood, as hundreds of blank rounds were fired.
It was a reminder that these recruits will be facing real bullets when they return to Ukraine.
Artem, 42, formerly working in logistics in Odessa, was impressed and thankful for the international trainersâ efforts.
He said: âThey really care for us very much. They have a very high level of military expertise.
âBefore the full-scale invasion I didnât have any military experience. Me and my brothers in arms are more than sure this will help us to fulfil the combat tasks and it will give us more strength and resilience on the battlefield.â
Corporal Shaun Carter of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, normally based in Woolwich, said of the exercises: âWe try to make it as realistic as possible, as close to what they will be up against in Ukraine.
âWe call it âtrain hard, fight easyâ. We have trained 10,000 last year, we want to do another 20,000 this year.
âThey are extremely motivated.
âWhen they turn up they are civilians and in a short number of weeks they have gone from civilian to soldier.
âWe get to know them, we learn from them, so itâs a two-way street. Thereâs a lot of admiration from us.
The corporal was pleased with the way the recruits had picked up combat skills in the short course, saying: âThey have come on leaps and bounds.â
Other recruits were undergoing training on urban warfare and learning from Swedish soldiers how to clear buildings.
Instructor Rasmus, a Swedish army captain who preferred not to give his surname, said the Ukrainians were highly motivated.
âIt is hard work being a soldier,â he said.
âThey are tired but keep going with a good spirit.
âWe know this is for real and they will use this training in real situations and we are giving them the best training we can.
âThey are progressing so well so they are fit to fight back in Ukraine.â
GNA