British forces have begun training Ukrainian soldiers in a new programme to help in their fight against Russia.
Up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers will arrive in the UK for specialist military training lasting several weeks. The first cohort met the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed.
Wallace, widely expected to launch a campaign to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative party, described the programme as the next phase of Britain’s support to the Ukrainian army.
“Using the world-class expertise of the British army we will help Ukraine to rebuild its forces and scale up its resistance as they defend their country’s sovereignty and their right to choose their own future,” he said.
Ukraine is losing up to 200 soldiers every day, meaning that training reinforcements away from the threat of Russian attacks is critical to the country’s war effort.
About 1,050 British service personnel are being deployed to run the programme, which will take place at four undisclosed MoD sites across the north-west, south-west and south-east of the UK.
The training will give volunteer recruits with little to no military experience the skills to be effective in frontline combat. Based on the UK’s basic soldier training, the course covers weapons handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics and the law of armed conflict.
The government, which has so far invested £2.3bn in military aid to Ukraine, has also procured AK variant assault rifles for the training, so Ukrainian soldiers can train with the weapons they will be using on the frontline.
The US has also been providing training to the Ukrainian military, with senior officers studying at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
