There may not be U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine as a Russian invasion of the country stretches into yet another month, but U.S. service members are now training Ukrainian soldiers on key weapons systems.
“These efforts build on the initial artillery training that Ukraine’s forces already have received elsewhere and also includes training on radar systems and armored vehicles that have been recently announced as part of security assistance packages,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said Friday. He said U.S. service members in Germany are conducting the training.
U.S. Army Europe and Africa has organized the training in coordination with Germany, said the U.S. Department of Defense.
Since Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the U.S. has not been required to send troops there as soldiers and civilians fought off attacks led by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin that began in late February.
In early April, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said “with respect to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s been a long-standing objective of Putin – and, candidly, short of the commitment of U.S. military forces into Ukraine proper – I’m not sure he was deterrable,” during a House Armed Services Committee hearing testimony.
However, Milley added that he would “not advise” sending troops to Ukraine, as that might result in armed conflict with Russia, the only nation in the world with a larger collection of nuclear weapons than the U.S.
Kirby said the U.S. continually watches Russia’s nuclear preparations.
“I'm not going to go into the psychology of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” he said Friday. “It's hard to look at what he's doing in Ukraine, what his forces are doing in Ukraine and think that any ethical, moral individual could justify that. It’s difficult to look at some of the images and imagine that any well-thinking, serious, mature leader would do that. So, I can’t talk to his psychology. But I think we can all speak to his depravity.”
According to the Department of Defense, Florida National Guardsmen who were part of the Joint Multinational Training Group in Western Ukraine were ordered out of the country in February as the Russian invasion intensified. These troops have been reunited with Ukrainians in Germany “and are again working to give the Ukrainians the knowledge they need to defend their country,” said the department.
Kirby said the reunion between the Florida National Guard members and the Ukrainian soldiers was “an emotional meeting, given the strong bonds that were formed as they were living and working together before temporarily parting ways.”
According to Kirby, U.S. training efforts in Ukraine go back to the break up of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s and expanded after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
“That training effort has been key to Ukraine’s stout defense of its capital city of Kyiv and the fight they are putting up in Donbas” said the Department of Defense. “The training helped transform Ukraine from a Soviet-style military to a more agile and deadly force.”
Although Russia has a larger military, Ukraine has been able to hold off forces for around two months.
This training effort is in direct support of recent U.S. security assistance packages "designed to help Ukraine win their battles today and build strength for tomorrow," Kirby said.
These systems are necessary to counter Russia's new push into the Donbas region of Ukraine.
Now, the Florida Guardsmen have returned to conduct the bulk of planned training operations in Germany. These training efforts support recent security assistance from the U.S.
Since the start of the Russian invasion, the U.S. has provided $1 billion in support to Ukraine, as well as weapons. This week, President Joe Biden called on Congress to provide another $33.5 billion in aid to Ukraine.
U.S. officials want to make the current training useful and “constructive, but not onerous — meaning the Ukrainians are fighting a war in their country and do not have the time for long training classes,” said the Department of Defense.
Training will include instruction on use of the M-777 howitzer artillery piece and radar operators, equipment Ukrainian troops already have a background with. In addition to the U.S., Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said Canadian service members are also training Ukrainians on the M-777 howitzer in Europe.
“These Ukrainians soldiers will then go back to Ukraine and teach their fellow soldiers how to use the equipment effectively,” said the Department of Defense.
“As you might imagine, these soldiers are eager to learn these new skills, but they’re also eager to apply those new skills in the conflict,” Kirby said.
Apart from training, monetary aid and weapons, from the U.S. military, thousands of Americans have also volunteered to join the fight in Ukraine, along with people from other countries.
Related
Related
