LONDON: More than 17,000 Ukrainian recruits have been trained by Britain and other allies over the last year to help Kyiv fight Russia’s invasion, the UK Ministry of Defence said Monday (Jun 26).
The recruits, from many different walks of life, all went through a “gruelling” five-week programme which the ministry said had transformed them “from civilians to soldiers”.
Britain and nine partner nations – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania and The Netherlands – opened the initiative for new volunteer recruits to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in June last year.
The UK-led training programme dubbed Operation Interflex taught the recruits, who had little to no previous military experience, various skills including weapons handling, battlefield first aid and patrol tactics.
“The determination and resilience of the Ukrainian recruits that arrive on British soil, from all walks of life, to train to fight alongside our British and international forces, is humbling to witness,” UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.
Source: CNA
