France intends to train 7,000 Ukrainian troops this year - some in Poland and others on French bases - as part of the European Union's military assistance mission to Ukraine, which began last year. Efforts to train Ukraine's military have achieved important results even as attention has been focused on Gaza, the Associated Press writes.
The initial goal of the EU mission was to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, but it has far exceeded that goal and now expects to reach 35,000 by the end of this year. The EU Commission says that all but three of the 27 EU member states, as well as non-EU Norway, have provided training courses or instructors for Ukrainians.
Last week, the French army granted the Associated Press access to a training base in rural France to watch the latest class of Ukrainian infantrymen being tested at the end of a four-week course.
The publication notes that in addition to basic training in weapons handling, first aid on the battlefield and other skills, instructors also pass on special military know-how, ranging from de-mining and water strikes aboard small boats to equipment repair, officer training and even assistance to Ukrainian military chaplains.