Defence Secretary announces Britain has extended training of Ukrainian Armed Forces for another year.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) will benefit from an extra year of UK training programme, the Defence Secretary has announced.
The programme has been extended for a year, to ensure more members of the UAF will benefit from UK Armed forces training.
Sir Michael Fallon confirmed that British personnel will now be deployed in the country until early 2018, continuing to provide defensive training to the UAF. This includes the identification of mines and other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), life-saving first aid, logistics and operational planning.
This is largely to defend against an assertive and provocative Russia.
The British forces currently based in the country are due to exceed their training target and by March 2017 are expected to have trained over 5,000 members of the UAF, which is 1,000 above the original target.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said: “Britain is stepping up in Europe and around the world. Extending British training of Ukrainian Armed Forces sends a clear message that we support Ukraine and remain firmly committed to its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, in the face of a more belligerent Russia. This extension will ensure thousands more Ukrainian troops get first rate training from the best armed forces in the world.”
Since 2015, training teams from across the UK have been deployed to Ukraine since 2015, with 1 Mercian currently providing the majority of this activity until the end of this year.
The UK coordinates the training it provides to the UAF with four other nations as part of the QUINT. This is made up of the UK, USA, Canada, Lithuania and Poland.
The UK has gifted £1M worth of equipment such as first aid kits and cold weather clothing to strengthen their defensive capability.
There are currently over 4,500 UK personnel deployed on around 25 operations around the world.
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Improvised Explosive Devices Ministry of Defence UK Armed Forces Ukrainian Armed Forces
Post written by: Abigail Burr
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