Defense wants to train soldiers in the use of anti-aircraft batteries and give them basic military training
UK has sustained plan to upgrade military capabilities of 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers
Spain is willing to join the club of Western countries that train Ukrainian soldiers to defeat the Russian invader. This Wednesday, coinciding with Ukraine’s independence day and after criticism from the country’s ambassador for the lack of military collaboration offered by our country, the Ministry of Defense announced a new military aid package. It includes an anti-aircraft missile system “in a fully operational situation & rdquor; and for which it is also offered “provide training in operation and maintenance&rdquor ;, according to the department led by Margarita Robles.
Although the details of that anti-aircraft battery have not been given, knowledgeable sources point to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA, a newspaper that belongs to the Prensa Ibérica group as well as this media outlet, which It is the Aspide model produced in Italy by the Selenia company. It has a radar seeker that needs efficiency in its management, although it does not require too many hours of training, according to what Yago Rodríguez, a specialist in strategic studies, assures this newspaper.
In addition to this training in the specific use of this missile system, Margarita Robles has offered, in a letter sent to his Ukrainian counterpart, a training program for Ukrainian forces in Spain. “The preparation of Spanish trainers and different priority training modules for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is being coordinated with an allied country,” says the Ministry in a press release. “This task is likely to be included in the possible future mission of the European Union, if approved & rdquor ;.
It would be the first time that it is known that, after six months of war, Spain is carrying out a substantial program to improve the war capabilities of Ukrainian soldiers. “Training is an essential part of the aid that the NATO countries are giving to Ukraine & rdquor ;, he tells EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA on ICDS analyst Kalev Stoicescu. “In that sense, it is good news that Spain joins the great work that the United Kingdom, Poland, the United States or the Baltics are doing, training soldiers, officers and non-commissioned officers, or creating trainers who can then train more soldiers already in Ukraine & rdquor ;.
These programs are one of the strengths that is allowing the kyiv army to withstand the onslaught of the Russian invader, more powerful in every way. And this involvement of modern Western armies worries Moscow. The German counterintelligence services reported this Friday that Russian officials have been spying in training centers
According to Spiegel, at least two suspicious vehicles and small drones have been seen rapidly appearing and disappearing at two sites in Germany where these trainings take place.
One location is the Idar-Oberstein camp in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where the German Army teaches them to use self-propelled artillery of the Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzer type. The other is Grafenwoehr in Bavaria. There it is the United States Army that improves Ukrainian capabilities in the use of artillery systems.
The UK example
“Two weeks ago these men were civilians. Someday they will be again, but at the moment we are training them so that they are ready to fight on the front line & rdquor ;, read a tweet from the British Ministry of Defense on August 20, accompanied by a video of one of the training sessions.
The UK has had a strong training program for Ukrainian soldiers for years. As the British ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, told this newspaper a few weeks ago, the United Kingdom has been training Ukrainian troops since Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. In these years, the so-called Orbital Operation it has trained 22,000 of them.
Last June, a new training program began on British soil. Of the 2,300 Ukrainian soldiers have already left ready and with new capabilities to wage war against Russia. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Latvia have just announced that they are joining the initiative, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The Netherlands had already said it would support the initiative.
London has deployed more than 1,000 members of its Armed Forces at various training camps across the UK. The courses last several weeks, and in them it becomes to volunteer recruits with little or no military experience in soldiers ready for frontline combat: use of weapons such as AK assault rifle variants, knowledge of first aid applied to the battlefield, survival techniques or patrol tactics, as well as the laws that govern armed conflict. They are provided with everything they need to go directly to the front: helmets, body protection, winter uniforms, tools to dig trenches or first aid equipment, among other military equipment.
In gratitude for the “unconditional support for the freedom of Ukraine & rdquor; of the United Kingdom, President Volodímir Zelenski handed over this Thursday to Boris Johnson “highest award that can be offered to a foreigner”, the Order of Liberty. Defense Minister Ben Wallace stressed the importance of these programs in the “new phase & rdquor; of his country’s support for Ukraine.
The United States does not give total numbers of trained soldiers. Its Defense Ministry said on August 19 that there are several training initiatives underway in various European countries. “The United States is especially committed together with its allied countries with the formation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine & rdquor ;, they assure. Over the years, high-ranking Ukrainian officers have also been trained at the Fort Leavenworth base in Kansas.
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Before the invasion began on February 24, 2022, the Ukrainian Army consisted of 200,000 active soldiers, 40,000 of them deployed in Donbas occupied by pro-Russian forces. There are 900,000 in the reserve, and about 7 million citizens aged 16-49 eligible to join the military.
Last July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced his plans to get an Armed Forces of a million soldiers, trained in the most modern tactics and equipped with NATO-standard weapons supplied by allied countries. Zelensky has said that he wants to recover every inch of the 20% of the territory occupied by Vladimir Putin’s troops.