Training of Ukrainian soldiers
British special forces return to Kyiv
04/16/2022 10:06 am
Since the Russian annexation of Crimea, British troops have been training the Ukrainian army. When the war started in February, however, they withdrew for fear of an escalation. Meanwhile, Ukrainian recruits are once again receiving support from one of the oldest, best special forces in the world.
A special unit of the British Army has apparently returned to Ukraine at times. The British “Times” reports, citing Ukrainian commanders, that the soldiers of the Special Air Service (SAS) have been training Ukrainian troops for the first time since the beginning of the war. Two battalions stationed in and around the capital Kyiv have been trained to use NLAW anti-tank missiles that Britain is providing to Ukraine.
According to the report, the training mission took place last week and the week before. The briefing was for new and returning Ukrainian Army recruits. “They were good guys, the Brits,” the Times quoted a commander as saying. “They invited us to visit them when the war is over.”
The SAS are among the oldest, best special forces in the world. Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, they have been visiting Ukraine regularly to train the military. However, they were withdrawn in February to avoid direct conflict with Russian troops and to minimize the risk of being drawn into the fighting as part of NATO.
Training with Youtube
According to the Times, the British Ministry of Defense would neither confirm nor deny the information. However, it is known that former British soldiers have been in Ukraine for a long time to train the Ukrainian troops free of charge or for a fee. According to the report, however, the Ukrainian commanders emphasize that the most recent training was carried out by British officers on duty.
Great Britain had already delivered more than 3,600 of the so-called NLAW anti-tank missiles to Ukraine in early March. “They are a great help,” the newspaper quoted one of the commanders in Kyiv as saying. “But the troops that know how to use them are deployed in other parts of the country. So we had to teach ourselves how to use them on YouTube. But now the British have trained us very well.”