SAS troops ‘are training local forces in Ukraine’
Serving British soldiers ‘on ground’ for first time
SAS troops have trained local forces in Kyiv for the first time since the war with Russia began, Ukrainian commanders have told The Times.
Officers from two battalions stationed in and around the capital said they had undergone military training from serving British special forces, one last week and the other the week before.
Captain Yuriy Myronenko, whose battalion is stationed in Obolon on the northern outskirts of Kyiv, said that military trainers had come to instruct new and returning military recruits to use NLAWs, British-supplied anti-tank missiles that were delivered in February as the invasion was beginning.
One Ukrainian special forces commander, who goes by the military nickname “Skiff”, said the 112th battalion, to which his unit was attached, had undergone training last week. The account was confirmed by his senior commander. “They were good guys, the Brits,” the commander, nicknamed “Bear”, said. “They have invited us to visit them when the war is over”.
British military trainers were first sent to Ukraine after the invasion of Crimea. They were withdrawn in February to avoid direct conflict with Russian forces and the possibility of Nato being drawn into the latest conflict.
The United States announced this week that it was supplying $800 million in new weapons to Ukraine, for the first time including artillery, as well as resuming training by American troops. The Pentagon said explicitly that the training would not be conducted on Ukrainian territory. Moscow sent a letter to Washington yesterday demanding that the US stop arming Kyiv, warning of “unpredictable consequences”.
In other developments:
• The captain of the Moskva, the Russian flagship of the Black Sea fleet that sank after a reported missile strike, was said to be among the dead.
• William Burns, the director of the CIA, said the US had “practical evidence” that the Kremlin was prepared to use tactical nuclear weapons.
• Moscow threatened targets in Kyiv in response to what it said were Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
• Robert Jenrick, the former communities secretary, became the first MP to house Ukrainian refugees in the UK.
The Ministry of Defence refused to confirm the Ukrainian commanders’ accounts, citing a longstanding convention not to comment on special operations. Former British soldiers, marines and special forces commandos are also in Ukraine working as training contractors and volunteers, but the Ukrainian officers were adamant that their training this month was carried out by serving British soldiers. James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said this week that Ukrainian troops were due to arrive in Britain next week for armoured vehicle training.
Myronenko said that the resumption of training was critical because new recruits and returning veterans who signed up when the invasion began had no experience with the anti-tank missiles, which Britain continued to send as Russian forces invaded.
“We have received huge military help from Britain,” he said. “But the people who knew how to use NLAWs were in other places, so we had to go on YouTube to teach ourselves. You can learn in seven minutes, five to seven minutes.
“After that we had good training. British officers were here two weeks ago in our unit and they trained us really good. And because we have had successes, we have self-confidence now.”
Before the British trainers were withdrawn in February, western intelligence officials said they feared that Kyiv could fall to the Russians within days in the event of an invasion. The strength of Ukrainian resistance, however, and a series of logistical and intelligence failings held them off from taking the capital.
Last month, after weeks of fighting, Moscow announced that it had completed the first phase of its operation and would concentrate on “liberating” the eastern Donbas region, a recalibration that Nato regarded as recognition Russian forces could not take Kyiv.
The invading troops fully withdrew from the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions in the first few days of this month, leaving behind a trail of horrors that are being investigated as war crimes.
Ukraine has sent additional reinforcements to the Donbas region as Russia prepares for a renewed assault but still fears that Kyiv remains a target.
Moscow threatened to attack Kyiv again yesterday after the sinking of the Moskva, which Russia claims was caused by a fire but the Ukrainian military said was the result of its missile attack.
Troops were digging fresh trenches yesterday on the edge of Irpin, the scene of heavy fighting close to Kyiv, as well as in Obolon to reinforce the capital and allow the military to remove some barricades within the city.
The commander “Bear”, who is stationed on the western edge of Kyiv where trenches extend for miles, said that forces were also pushing forward their defensive lines to keep fighting further from the capital.
Russian ground forces came within five miles of the city centre in the first few days of the war, sending paratroopers into Obolon on attempted raids as they fought for possession of the nearby Hostomel airbase. “By the fifth or sixth day we still saw helicopters but they don’t send any descent,” Myronenko said. “Maybe inside the helicopter they were scared.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sas-troops-are-training-local-forces-in-ukraine-32vs5bjzb
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