Germany Will Hold Basic Training For Ukrainian Soldiers Next Year

Ukrainian military training in the UK. (Source: Army.mod.uk)

JAKARTA - Germany is likely to receive more Ukrainian recruits to take part in basic training next year if Kyiv moves some further military education back to his country, a European Union force commander said.

"We have received more training requests as Ukraine continues to mobilize, particularly for basic training mostly conducted by Britain," Lieutenant General Andreas Marlow, head of the European Union's special training command near Berlin, said in an interview on Thursday.

This is likely to affect collective training, involving entire companies or battalions, which has so far been carried out in Germany and which are participating in basic training, he said.

Ukraine is under pressure to call for more troops, as the war, which has been going on for 27 months, continues and fewer volunteers have signed up.

Kyiv wants to handle more training on its own to simplify logistics and allow troops to be available on the battlefield in a shorter time, he said. Spain conducts some training for Ukrainian troops, just like Poland.

The Special Training Command (STC) led by Lt. Gen. Marlow is part of the European Union's military mission formed in 2022, to train around 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers in various skills until mid-November 2024, to help fight the Russian invasion.

In Germany, instructors from 14 countries have trained troops to operate tanks or air defense systems such as Patriot and IRIS-T. While snipers, technicians, paramedics and aircraft operators unmanned studying their skills and IT experts are taught how to fend off hackers.

Lieutenant General Marlow said he did not expect the specialist's training to switch to Ukraine, as it required certain weapons and infrastructure, such as simulators.

Kyiv hopes to move collective training back to his country in part, as teaching operational doctrines is easier for Ukrainians to do, to accelerate the deployment of new troops, he said.

"Kyiv will have ready-to-use troops that are much faster available than if they take part in training in Germany or Spain," he said.

Lt. Gen. Marlow said there was no need to rush to withdraw soldiers who had completed basic training, where recruits learned how to deal with assault rifles or provide first aid, during an emergency, "because they are not yet fully ready to act."

Basic training in Germany usually lasts for three months, but has been shortened to six weeks for Ukrainians due to war.

Kyiv's attempts to move training back to Ukraine could trigger discussions among NATO allies, such as France and Lithuania, to send military coaches there.