The UK and UKR - Britain's support for military training

Operation Interflex is a British-led multinational effort to train new and existing Ukrainian military personnel in the UK. From July 2022, the UK's military began its ambition to help train "up to 10,000 Ukrainian personnel every 120 days". As of 2023, the programme continues to provide Ukrainian military volunteer recruits, who have "little to no previous military experience", with skills for the battlefield. Crucially, some existing Ukrainian service personnel receive "specialist training" on UK-supplied "equipment" which includes advanced weaponry. Edelweis is a nom de plume for the professional research assoviate.

What is the main focus of Operation Interflex?

As of 2023, Ukrainian recruits continue to receive basic training over "a minimum five-week period" to ensure they have the "skills needed to be effective in frontline combat and retake territory". This includes "weapons handling, battlefield first aid, Law of Armed Conflict awareness, patrol tactics and rural environment training". Ukrainian recruits are also drilled in trench warfare. Ukrainian personnel have been taught how to "breach minefields and clear safe routes" using British-supplied VALLON metal detectors.

What has the UK-led operation achieved so far?

The Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden are assisting the UK-led initiative to help build up Ukraine's military.

In July 2022, the first cohort of Ukrainian recruits began basic combat training in the UK; they will have since returned home to fight Russian-occupying forces. During 2022, Operation Interflex is said to have trained "more than 11,000 AFU personnel (Armed Forces of Ukraine) ". Of the 2022 intake, approximately 10,000 recruits were taught essential "battlefield skills". It is understood that the remaining 1000 or so experienced Ukrainian service personnel were taught to operate UK-supplied "specialist equipment" such as British Army artillery guns.

The UK government acknowledges that it provides "specialist training" on "equipment" that it has donated to Ukraine. Advanced weapons donated also include anti-air missiles - Starstreak, Advanced Medium Range Anti-Air Missile (also known as AMRAAM) and the precision guided rocket system M270. Existing Ukrainian tank crews are also being taught how to operate the British Army's main battle tank - Challenger 2. This follows the UK's decision to supply 14 Challenger 2s.

Footage also is reported to show Ukrainian personnel training on the AS90, a British Army self-propelled artillery vehicle that will also be supplied to Ukraine. Under Operation Interflex, the UK Defence is clearly preparing Ukraine's military to field weaponry. The offensive fighting capabilities and readiness of the AFU is also a focus for British military tuition.

What are the main objectives of Operation Interflex in 2023?

For 2023, Operation Interflex will aim to train up to 20,000 AFU personnel at MoD training establishments across England. In January 2023, the UK's Defence Minister Ben Wallace also announced details of the government's "combat power package" for Ukraine. Crucially, in keeping with Operation Interflex, the overall defence package pledges to increase Ukraine's offensive fighting capabilities. In addition to weapons, "mine breaching and bridging capabilities" will also be provided to help the Ukrainian forces to manoeuvre in battle. To succeed, any Ukrainian counter-offensive must break through Russian defences. These are established in depth and often seeded with mines.

As of February 2023, the government re-iterated that Operation Interflex continues to train thousands of Ukrainian personnel. His Majesty King Charles III and the UK's Chief of the General Staff Sir Patrick Sanders also visited a cohort of Ukrainian recruits.

What efforts are also being made in Europe to train Ukraine's military?

From December 2022, the European Union (EU) Military Assistance Mission Ukraine (EUMAM) planned to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers within a year. As of December 2022, 24 EU Member States had "offered training modules and personnel" for EUMAM. In February 2023, the EU pledged to double its effort with the aim of training 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers. EU member states voted in support of EUMAM with the exception of Hungary.

In December 2022, the US also announced it would "provide Ukrainian soldiers with combined arms and joint manoeuvre training". According to the US Department of Defense, the training mission would commence in January and would likely take place at US ranges in Germany. American soldiers from US Army Europe and Africa Command's 7th Army Training Command will deliver this programme.

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said the US planned to train an estimated 500 Ukrainians every month. Brigadier General Patrick Ryder also confirmed, that between April and December 2022, the US had already trained 3,100 Ukrainian service personnel with a focus on operating US-supplied equipment and weapon systems.

Pilot training

The UK government has also announced it will train Ukrainian fast jet pilots and marines. In particular, it pledged to ensure Ukrainian air force personnel are "able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future". However, the UK and the West have so far refused to provide advanced fighter jets for fear that this could escalate the war. It also remains unclear what the UK-based Ukrainian pilot initiative will involve and when exactly it will begin. It is understood that the initiative is still in the early planning stages and discussions remain ongoing. Nonetheless, for the longer term, this support is intended to be assured.

The hope is that Western countries might eventually agree overall to supply modern, western fighter jets. At present, this decision remains unlikely. Should the West subsequently change its mind, Ukrainian pilots could be more readily able to fly fighter jets such as the F-16 or Eurofighter Typhoon. Ukraine continues to calls on the West to supply fighter jets to help it win the war.

Marine training

A new UK commitment to train marines may also reflect Ukrainian efforts to conduct amphibious operations against Russia forces in and around the Dnipro River in the south of the country. From Zaporizhzhia to Kherson region, the Dnipro river lies as an obstacle between liberated and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. One unverified video appears to show a Ukrainian river raid against a Russian-occupied position on the opposite side of Dnipro river upstream from Kherson city.

In November 2022, Ukrainian Southern Defence Forces spokesperson Natalia Humenyuk also confirmed amphibious operations were underway in and around the Kinburn Spit. The Spit is located before the mouth of the Dnipro river some distance across from the port city of Odesa. UK military assistance to Ukraine is longstanding. In response to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the UK launched Operation Orbital – its then training mission in Ukraine. This succeeded in training "over 20,000 AFU personnel" and provided "non-lethal military equipment."

Operation Interflex is helping to build up Ukraine's military; it may prove a defining contribution to any counter-offensive in the coming months.