Latvia increases training of Ukrainian military
18 December, 2023 Servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Mastiff armored vehicle. June 2022. Photo credits: Ukrainian Naval Forces
The volume of training of the Ukrainian military with the participation of Latvia more than quadrupled in 2023. This became known during a meeting in Kyiv between the delegations of the defense ministries of both countries. The talks were chaired by Ministers Rustem Umierov and Andris Spruds.
Latvia trains Ukrainians in the following areas: basic general military training, officer-sergeant leadership training, sapper training, rifleman training, and others. During the bilateral talks, Colonel Mykola Huben, Head of the Main Directorate of Doctrines and Training of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine , said that since July 2022, with the assistance of Latvia, almost 350 Ukrainian servicemen have been trained in several areas.
Training of Ukrainian military as part of Operation UNIFIER UK
He added that in 2023, the volume of training with the participation of Latvia more than quadrupled, and by the end of the year, more than 1,500 Ukrainian servicemen will be trained.
The colonel stated that these trainings significantly improve the quality of personnel preparing. At the same time, Ukraine proposes to take into account the combat experience gained by the Ukrainian military in the further training process. The Ministry of Defense is also interested in continuing training of Ukrainian servicemen by Latvian instructors.
In 2024, it is proposed to train approximately 96 Ukrainian unit commanders and 360 combat medics with the participation of Latvia.
Canadian instructors training Ukrainian forces as part of Operation UNIFIER UK
As part of a training mission, Canada and Latvia have begun training Ukrainian servicemen, including young officers, on Latvian soil since May of this year. The training is part of Operation UNIFIER, conducted jointly by the Canadian Armed Forces and the Latvian National Armed Forces.
Also, in April, it was reported that Latvia will transfer all its Stinger man-portable air-defense systems to Ukraine.
Training of Ukrainian servicemen on Leopard 2 tanks as part of Operation UNIFIER. March 2023. Poland.
Photo credits: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
As previously reported, Operation UNIFIER was launched in 2015 in response to a request from the Government of Ukraine to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At that time, the Canadian instructors taught Ukrainians military tactics and advanced military skills. In total, over 36,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been trained under Operation UNIFIER since its inception in 2015.
Until the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, this training was carried out in Ukraine.
However, with the Russian invasion, the Canadians had to leave Ukraine, and the training was transferred to bases in the UK, and in a year, to Poland.