For the first time ever, Ukrainian troops on the frontline are being trained to use military equipment on British soil.
The Ukrainian fighters have come to Britain to learn how to operate 120 armoured vehicles promised by Boris Johnson to president Volodymyr Zelensky during his recent visit to Kyiv.
The location of the mission and exact number of individuals involved – understood to total “around a couple of dozen” – are being kept strictly secret for security reasons.
But training of this kind often takes place on the military ranges of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, where Ukrainian defence chiefs recently observed demonstrations of the Stormer armoured missile launcher.
The Stormer system, designed to fire the UK-manufactured Starstreak high-velocity air defence projectile, is being sent to Ukraine as part of Mr Johnson’s military assistance package.
The Ukrainians currently in the UK are not receiving training on tracked combat reconnaissance vehicles (CRVs) and protective mobility vehicles (PMVs).
These include the Mastiff PMV – widely used by UK troops in Afghanistan and Iraq – as well as Husky and Wolfhound tactical support vehicles, the Sultan command and control vehicle, Samson armoured recovery vehicles and Samaritan armoured ambulances.
Some Mastiffs are already on their way to Ukraine to help counter Putin’s renewed assault in the eastern Donbas region.
Mr Johnson told reporters: “I can say that we are currently training Ukrainians in Poland in the use of anti-aircraft defence, and actually in the UK in the use of armoured vehicles.”
The UK has been involved in training Ukrainian forces since the Russian incursions into Crimea and Donbas in 2014, but Mr Johnson’s comment was the first official confirmation of the country’s troops being trained in Britain.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We are moving, in conjunction with our allies, to providing new types of equipment that perhaps the Ukrainians wouldn’t have had previous experience of, so it’s only sensible that they get the requisite training to make the best use of it.”
Asked if such a move was escalatory, he said: “What is escalatory is the actions of Putin and his regime in Ukraine. We are simply working together with our allies to give Ukraine the best tools to defend themselves.”
Johnson promised the armoured vehicles during his recent visit to Kyiv
