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Over 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained abroad in 2022: report

02.01.2023 12:00
More than 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers underwent training abroad last year, many of them in Poland, according to a report.
A Ukrainian soldier in the countrys southern Kherson region, Nov. 23, 2022.
A Ukrainian soldier in the country's southern Kherson region, Nov. 23, 2022.Photo: PAP/Vladyslav Karpovych

"The personnel and combined military units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are being trained in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, as well as by the U.S. forces in Germany," Brig. Gen. Oleksii Hromov, deputy chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was cited as saying at the start of 2023.

"In 2022, the training of brigade headquarters, as well as units at the battalion, company, artillery battery, and air defense battery levels, was conducted on the territory of the partner states," Hromov added, as quoted by Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform on Sunday.

"In addition, the training of specialists for the use of foreign weapons and military equipment, which are received as part of technical assistance, is ongoing," Hromov also said, according to the ukrinform.net website.

"Almost 10,000 people were trained in 17 countries during the year," he added.

He told Ukrinform that experts such as sappers, combat medics, advanced aviation and artillery gunners, divers, scouts, non-commissioned officers, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense (CBRN) specialists were undergoing professional training "with the help of partners."

More than 10,000 such experts were trained in various European countries last year, according to Hromov.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian artillerymen successfully completed a training course in Germany to ensure an effective combat use of weapons provided by partner countries as part of international assistance, he said.

Overall, more than 20,000 servicemen were trained "thanks to partner states" during the year, Hromov said.

The Politico news service reported last month that the Pentagon was considering training Ukrainian troops to operate the Patriot missile defense system at a military base in the United States.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, Ukrainian troops have undergone training on a host of different NATO-provided weapons systems, including the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), in eastern Europe, Germany and Britain, Politico said in an article published before Christmas.

Monday is day 313 of Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

(gs)

Source: ukrinform.net