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Ukrainian troops train for trench warfare near France's WWI battlefields
[FoxNews] Ukraine needs '15 new highly trained, battle-ready brigades,' according to French officialsThe scene could be 1,860 miles away in Ukraine's Donbas region, but instead some 2,000 Ukrainian conscripts and veterans are training in the muddy fields of France's eastern Marne region, where French and German armies once hammered each other during World War I. The initiative is part of a European Union-funded program that has already prepared 60,000 Ukrainians for the front lines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. For this training, the French military has tried to recreate the conditions faced by the Ukrainian forces back home, while training them on the equipment that France is providing. This includes 128 armored vehicles for troop movements and reconnaissance, Caesar howitzers, anti-tank missile units, surface-to-air missiles and battlefield radars. The Anne of Kyiv brigade - named after a princess who married French King Henri I in 1051 in nearby Reims cathedral - has been training in France since September, and in the next 10 days will head to Poland before being dispatched to the front. French officials say Ukraine needs as many as 15 new highly trained, battle-ready brigades, especially amid uncertainty over future Western military aid following the victory of Donald Trump - a strong critic of such aid - in the U.S. elections. Most of the Ukrainians being trained here only joined the army a month before coming to France, while about 10% are veterans. Their average age is 38, but some are as old as 50. French officials said the current trainees, despite many being civilians, were learning quickly and were showing how Ukraine's army can adapt despite shortages on the ground. After nine weeks of training, the Ukrainians were now able, for example, to repel an attack on their trenches and to mount a counter-attack.
Posted by: Skidmark 2024-11-17 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=725793 |