Australia increases the number of instructors to train Ukrainian military

15 December, 2023 A serviceman of the Australian army instructs Ukrainian soldiers in the use of the NLAW grenade launcher. Photo credits: Australian Army The number of deployed ADF members who will be involved in training Ukrainian soldiers will increase, per rotation.

ABC reported on this. According to a new commitment from the Australian Ministry of Defense, the country will allocate £186 million to continue ''Operation Kudu''. Over the next 12 months, the number of deployed ADF members will increase to 90 personnel.

In 2023, this number was two times smaller and amounted to 39 instructors. The allocated funding will be used to purchase firearms, uniforms, and ammunition.

Our growing commitment to the multinational training mission affirms our pledge to provide meaningful and relevant support to the government and people of Ukraine," Defence Minister Richard Marles said.

Since January, Australian soldiers have helped to train more than 1,200 recruits as part of the UK-led and based multinational training mission.

Australia is one of the main countries in the UK-led multinational Operation Interflex, which aims to train Ukrainian military personnel.

An Australian soldier during training of Ukrainian soldiers. Photo credits: Australian Army

In addition to Australian instructors, professionals from other countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Romania joined the Operation Interflex. The course is delivered over a minimum period of five weeks and includes weapons handling, battlefield first aid, Law of Armed Conflict training, patrol tactics and rural environment training, and basic knowledge of international law on the battlefield.

As Militarnyi previously reported, the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic has approved the continuation of the mission to train Ukrainian servicemen on Czech territory next year.

So far, according to officials, about 3,500 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the Czech Republic, and about another 500 have been trained by Czech instructors in Poland.