The US military has begun a new, expanded combat training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, organized by Washington in Germany, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, told reporters.

“This support (an expanded training mission and the supply of weapons to Kiev. -

RT

) is of great importance for the defense of Ukraine ... And we hope that we can organize everything as soon as possible,” the American general emphasized.

According to him, the goal of the United States is to ensure that all incoming weapons and equipment are delivered to Ukraine in a timely manner and the newly trained military can use them "before the spring rains begin."

As Milley emphasized, "that would be ideal."

According to the American general, the training of a battalion of about 500 Ukrainian troops is expected to be aimed at fighting Russian troops on the battlefield and will last for the next five to eight weeks.

According to the Associated Press, the so-called combined arms training is aimed at "honing the skills of the Ukrainian troops so that they are better prepared to launch an offensive or repel any attack by Russian forces."

According to the AP, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be taught how to better move and coordinate their units in battle at the company and battalion levels, using joint artillery, armored vehicles and ground forces.

“The program will include theoretical and practical training, it will start with small departments and will gradually move to larger departments.

The program will culminate in a complex combat exercise, which will involve the entire battalion and headquarters unit, ”the agency informs.

According to Associated Press journalists, before the expansion of the training program, US attention was focused on training the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the use of those Western weapons systems that come to Ukraine.

AP representatives recalled that the United States has already trained more than 3.1 thousand military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - including how to use and maintain certain types of weapons and equipment, including howitzers, armored vehicles and HIMARS systems.

Earlier, Washington announced its intention to organize training for the Ukrainian military in the use of Patriot air defense systems.

For this purpose, according to media reports, representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were invited to the territory of the United States - to the US Army base Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

  • SAM Patriot

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Ibrahim Erikan/Anadolu Agency

This information was commented last week by Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, who stressed that the Pentagon’s decision to organize training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at its military base is “another confirmation of Washington’s de facto participation” in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of Kyiv, and drew attention to the danger of “such White House lines.

Meanwhile, in the United States itself, they also oppose the organization of training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Thus, the American Republican Senator from Oklahoma, Nathan Dam, called on the US Department of Defense not to allow military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to enter the state.

“The Pentagon plans to send Ukrainian troops to Oklahoma to train them in working with American missile systems.

It was not enough for them to accidentally hit something in Oklahoma, ”he wrote on his Twitter page.

NATO plan

Recall that in mid-December 2022, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General of the US Air Force Patrick Ryder said that from January of this year, Washington would expand the training mission for the Ukrainian military.

Then he clarified that such a training program would allow organizing monthly training for about 500 military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at American military training grounds in Germany.

According to Ryder, the expanded mission is "focused on battalion-level operations," and the training program will include live firing, combined arms exercises, maneuvers and the operation of specialized equipment.

Ryder also noted that, in addition to 3.1 thousand Ukrainian military trained with the participation of the United States since April 2022, Washington's allies have organized training for about 12 thousand military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Recall: in addition to the United States, other NATO countries are also increasing their activity in training Ukrainian military personnel.

In October 2022, the European Council approved the decision to create an EU training mission EUMAM Ukraine, and in November Brussels announced the launch of this project, within which it is planned to train about 15 thousand military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In turn, in early December, a press release was published on the website of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, stating that from 2023 Vilnius is increasing the number of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for whom Lithuania organizes training courses, from 500 to 1.5 thousand.

Later that month, media reported that the first group of Ukrainian soldiers had already completed their training in the Czech Republic.

Another 4 thousand soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will undergo military training by the end of 2023.

Other countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, including Great Britain, Germany and Spain, also take part in the training of the Ukrainian military.

"It's not possible to educate radically"

As Sergei Yermakov, a leading RISS expert, noted in a conversation with RT, it is no coincidence that the United States and Western countries have stepped up their efforts to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine: they want to prepare Ukrainian forces "for offensive operations."

“Increasing the pace of training of Ukrainian military personnel both by the United States and other NATO countries fits into their general concept of waging a proxy war against Russia.

The United States is preparing an offensive potential for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Western countries are constantly expanding the range of military equipment supplied to Kyiv, and mainly of the NATO type.

But the use of such weapons requires serious and lengthy preparation, ”the analyst said.

Therefore, now for the United States and Western countries, the question is extremely acute whether they will be able to quickly and effectively train Ukrainian military personnel, Yermakov added.

“The West is in a hurry, realizing that time is running out, and the situation on the battlefield within the framework of the NMD shows that the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have the necessary potential to effectively repel the attacks of the RF Armed Forces.

But, given the pace (in a few weeks) announced by Washington, it will not be possible to somehow cardinally train the composition of the Armed Forces of the United States and NATO countries.

All the same, it will be impossible to coordinate the work of the same Patriot air defense systems, to manage them without NATO specialists.

And this means that the United States and the alliance will be increasingly drawn into the armed conflict in Ukraine, and the stakes will continue to rise, ”the analyst said.

  • American military instructor in Ukraine

  • AP

  • © Ukrainian Defense Ministry Press Service

A similar position is shared by military expert Alexei Leonkov.

According to him, there are no guarantees that even after the Ukrainians have been trained, the Patriot complexes will in fact not be controlled by the NATO military.

According to the expert, the United States expanded the training program not only because of the need to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the use of NATO equipment, but also "for another, more compelling reason."

“The fact is that the prevailing number of Ukrainian soldiers trained earlier by the West and sent to the line of contact were lost by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the fighting.

Now they again need skilled cannon fodder that will last longer on the battlefield.

For this purpose, the United States and its allies will most likely work out a new tactic related to the participation of armored combat vehicles: the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be taught to clearly land from them and attack, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

However, according to Leonkov, the last months of the special operation have shown that this strategy has a short-term effect.

“The Russian Armed Forces very quickly adapted to this approach.

Even if the West comes up with something new, the Russian military will be able to adapt to this.

For example, when high-precision MLRS HIMARS weapons were delivered to Ukraine, the RF Armed Forces learned not only to detect and destroy them, but also to shoot down their missiles.

As for the convulsive movements of the West to accelerate the training of the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and throwing them into the furnace, although this may affect the intensity of hostilities, it will not change anything strategically, ”the expert concluded.