(London) A first group of Ukrainian soldiers has arrived in the United Kingdom for training, as part of London’s support for Kyiv since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British government announced on Saturday.
Posted at 9:22
“This ambitious new training program is the next phase of UK support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression,” UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement.
Thanks to the “expertise” of the British army, “we will help Ukraine to rebuild its forces and intensify its resistance to defend the sovereignty of its country and its right to choose its own future”, added the minister who attended training this week.
According to the Ministry of Defence, 1,050 British servicemen are mobilized on this program, which takes place at military sites in the north-west, south-west and south-east of the United Kingdom.
PHOTO LOUIS WOOD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Each course, which will last several weeks, “will provide volunteer recruits with little or no experience with the skills to be effective in combat on the front line”, specifies the British Defense in a press release. It includes handling of weapons, first aid, field techniques, patrol and the law of armed conflict.
On the occasion of the last visit of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – since resigning after a succession of scandals – to Kyiv on June 17, Downing Street announced that London had offered to “train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days “.
Boris Johnson had estimated that this military training program “could change the equation of this war by channeling the most powerful of forces, namely the determination of the Ukrainians to win”.