EU Approves Program to Train Thousands of Ukrainian Troops in Europe

The initial goal is to train 15,000 soldiers mainly in Germany and Poland

The EU on Monday announced that it approved a training mission for Ukrainian troops that will be held in Europe and a plan to provide $486 million to purchase weapons for Kyiv.

The training mission’s initial goal will be to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops. The mission’s headquarters will be based in Brussels, but the bulk of the training is expected to take place in Germany in Poland.

The training mission’s budget will be about $107 million and it will be overseen by a French naval officer. Several EU member states and some NATO members have already been training Ukrainian soldiers in Europe, including the US and Britain.

The US military has been training Ukrainians in Germany and in other undisclosed locations in Europe on how to use US-provided arms. Infantry training has been taking place in Britain, and other Western nations have aided in the effort, including Canada, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

The US and NATO began training Ukraine’s military in 2014, following the US-backed ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, which sparked Russia taking Crimea and the separatists in the Donbas declaring independence from Kyiv.

The US withdrew its trainers from Ukraine shortly before Russia invaded on February 24. But some media outlets have reported the presence of special operations forces from the US and other NATO states in Ukraine after the invasion.

Back in April, The Times reported that British Special Air Service (SAS) troops were training troops in Kyiv on how to use UK-provided anti-tank weapons. In June, The New York Times reported that commandos from Britain, France, Canada, and Lithuania were inside Ukraine training and advising Ukrainian forces.

The Intercept recently reported that US special operations forces and CIA operatives are also on the ground in Ukraine, but didn’t detail what they were doing in the country.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.