UK may send British troops to Ukraine to train soldiers

Military chiefs are considering sending British troops to Ukraine to train soldiers and boost Kyiv’s recruitment efforts, it has emerged, Report informs via The Independent.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources confirmed to The Independent that discussions are ongoing about whether to send troops to the country to support it amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

There is already a small number of British medical personnel in Ukraine, delivering training and mentoring to the country’s armed forces.

And, under plans being discussed, small groups of military trainers would travel to secluded locations in the west of the country to provide intensive training to new recruits before they are deployed to the front line in the east.

Two sources told The Times the plans would solve some of the logistical issues that come with sending Ukrainian troops to UK bases for training and to save money.

The plans emerged as Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited 10 Downing Street for talks with Sir Keir Starmer amid a European tour to drum up further support for Ukraine’s campaign against Russia.

The Ukrainian president and the prime minister embraced outside No. 10 before a series of talks also involving NATO’s new secretary-general Mark Rutte.

Britain has trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in the UK under Operation Interflex, but Defense Secretary John Healey said last month that the “biggest constraint” to the scheme is Ukraine sending the personnel over to be trained.

One source told The Times doing the training in Ukraine would be “cheaper for us and better for them”, adding that “we could do it quicker out there and it would be very far away from the front line, in secluded locations, so the risk would be much lower”.

A Kyiv source said transferring the training to Ukraine would send a “powerful military-political signal” to Russia and serve as a “powerful deterrent” to Vladimir Putin.