The United States will expand the training mission for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) from January 2023, US Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said.

“This expanded training program will allow training about 500 Ukrainians per month.

In fact, it is focused on actions at the battalion level,” he said.

According to him, the training program, which is being conducted at American military training grounds in Germany, will include live firing, combined arms exercises, maneuvers and the use of specialized equipment.

“Working out combined arms maneuvers is a logical next step in the training activities carried out since 2014 aimed at building up the potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Ryder said.

He also recalled that since 2014, the United States has allocated about $22.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine and more than $19.3 billion after Russia announced the launch of a special military operation.

In addition, since April of this year, the US military has already trained 3.1 thousand Ukrainian troops, and the allies of the United States have trained about 12 thousand representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the brigadier general noted.

At the same time, he stressed that the United States “is not at war with Russia” and allegedly does not seek conflict with it, but only helps Ukraine defend itself.

  • US Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary

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  • © Alex Brandon

“As events unfold, we will remain flexible and adapt to the needs of our Ukrainian partners and the changing situation in Ukraine,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

However, a quantitative increase in the composition of the American contingent in Germany is not planned, Ryder added.

Capacity building

December 15 newspaper The

The New York Times (NYT), citing its sources, reported that the number of Ukrainian military trained by American instructors could increase to 800 per month.

More military personnel will be able to receive training due to the alleged decrease in the intensity of hostilities at the front due to the onset of winter.

At the same time, about 300 representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are training monthly at US training grounds in Germany, the publication informs.

At the same time, before the February events, American instructors trained Ukrainian servicemen directly on the territory of Ukraine, the newspaper recalled.

Thus, from 2015 to the beginning of 2022, over 27 thousand people were trained.

However, then Washington decided to withdraw its specialists from the country, the NYT notes.

The desire of the United States to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the conduct of hostilities is also supported by their allies.

Thus, from 2017 to 2021, the UK spent £61.3 million to train 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

Documents from the UK Intelligence Community Foundation (CSSF) testify to this.

Later, London took the initiative, offering to train Ukrainians already on its own territory and on the territory of European countries.

In turn, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced on November 14 that the EU is launching the EUMAM Ukraine mission to train 15,000 troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in record time.

The work of the mission under the command of the French vice-admiral Hervé Blezhan is designed for at least two years and is open to the participation of third states.

According to Borrell, in early December, the number of AFU servicemen undergoing training under EUMAM Ukraine amounted to 1.1 thousand.

  • Ukrainian military during training in the UK

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  • © Kirsty Wigglesworth

Integration with NATO

Russia has repeatedly noted that the active participation of Western countries in providing military assistance to Ukraine de facto turns them into participants in the conflict.

This, in particular, was pointed out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking on November 15 on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

“I believe that the EU and NATO have long been hybrid participants in a hybrid conflict, a hybrid war in Ukraine.

These are the supply of weapons, and training, and the training of military personnel, and assistance in providing a huge amount of intelligence, and participation in setting targets (the Americans are doing this), and the work of instructors “on the ground”, not to mention thousands of mercenaries, ”said Lavrov .

At the same time, he recalled that NATO took up the "development" of the Ukrainian territory immediately after the coup d'état took place in the country in 2014.

A similar point of view is shared by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.

In his Telegram channel on December 16, he asked the question: can the hybrid war, de facto declared to Russia by the North Atlantic Alliance, be considered NATO's entry into the war against the Russian Federation?

“The leaders of the NATO countries sing with one voice that their countries and the entire bloc are not at war with Russia.

But everyone is well aware that everything is different, ”Medvedev said.

  • Pentagon

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  • © Westend61

Preparing a counteroffensive

In an interview with RT, Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, noted that the expansion by the United States of its training program for the Armed Forces of Ukraine indicates Washington's intention to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

“It is known that the United States actively trained Ukrainians before the current events.

The fact that today they are expanding the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine indicates that Washington is increasing the degree of escalation.

They are trying to seize on some of the successes of the Ukrainian forces "on the ground" in order to develop them.

At the same time, both the Pentagon and the White House prefer not to think at what cost this "development" will be given.

After all, it only prolongs the conflict and leads to even greater casualties, primarily among the civilian population, ”the expert explained.

The Pentagon's announcement of the expansion of the training mission once again reveals Washington's true attitude towards the conflict, said Sergey Ermakov, a leading RISS expert.

“After all, it becomes quite obvious that this is how the United States is preparing Ukrainians for further confrontation with Russia, which is a proxy war.

With the hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Washington is at war with Moscow and is not going to stop it, improving the skills of “its” troops, ”he said in a conversation with RT.

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  • © Efrem Lukatsky

In addition, the United States clearly intends to contribute to Kyiv's plans to organize a counteroffensive against Russian positions, Vadim Kozyulin is sure.

“Kyiv has been nurturing such plans for a long time, but still cannot realize them.

And in Washington they decided, so to speak, to increase the chances of the wards.

Moreover, today NATO-Pentagon instructors are actually directing the military operation from the Ukrainian side.

Therefore, they know exactly where the Armed Forces of Ukraine need to strengthen or improve their skills, ”the analyst explained.

Meanwhile, Sergei Yermakov believes that the conflict in Ukraine is still wearing down the countries that support him.

According to the expert, even with a strong desire of the European Union to continue following the course of the United States in relation to current events, it is increasingly difficult for it to raise funds for Ukraine. 

“Therefore, the United States, with its decision to expand the training mission, is trying to maintain the morale of the allies.

After all, by all means they need to achieve their goal - to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia as one of the main geopolitical opponents.

And for Europe, the Russian Federation has never been one.

The maximum is a competitor in the economic plane, ”the expert emphasized.

In this regard, it is not worth waiting for the attenuation of the conflict at least for the winter period, Vadim Kozyulin believes.

“Ukraine is needed by the United States as a testing ground for working out a conflict scenario with the next geopolitical adversary - China.

Therefore, various tactics are being worked out on Ukrainian territory, the factors that need to be emphasized in order to achieve success in the confrontation are being evaluated, and the format of the conflict is being tested.

Along the way, Russia is weakening as a bonus.

However, Washington clearly miscalculated, believing that they would be able to quickly break the Russian Federation and force it to abandon its interests.

And today the United States has to pay for its mistakes, driving the situation in Ukraine to a standstill, ”the analyst concluded.