UK Defense Ministry: 18,000 Ukrainian recruits trained

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Jul 2023 23:01

Operation Interflex focuses on equipping Ukrainian volunteers with the skills necessary to defend their homeland.

Members of the Ukrainian Forces attend tactical, combat, and first aid training course (AFP)

The UK Defense Ministry announced that 18,000 Ukrainian recruits have already received training as part of Operation Interflex, a multinational effort led by the UK to support and train Ukrainian forces in response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

The operation, launched on June 26, 2022, reportedly focuses on equipping Ukrainian volunteers with the skills necessary to "defend their homeland".

In April, the UK ministry reported that over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers had undergone training in the UK, with a goal of fully training 20,000 recruits by the end of 2023.

It is worth noting that Operation Interflex involves several countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden, all contributing to the mission.

Earlier today, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik that Russian forces have targeted dozens of locations of accumulation of manpower of Ukrainian troops in the Zaporozhye direction.

The spokesperson indicated that in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian troops did not take active action in the Zaporozhye direction, having only conducted reconnaissance and attempted to regroup forces.

"In the course of systematic fire and counter-battery combat, a [Ukrainian] mortar crew was destroyed in the Mirny area … A [Russian] strike drone destroyed an armored combat vehicle with militants in the area northwest of Priyutnoye. Assault aircraft hit about a dozen places where militants gathered in the Pyatikhatok area," the spokesperson detailed.

A flashback

Ukraine launched its long-advertised counteroffensive in early June after multiple postponements. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian troops continue to try but are failing to advance along three directions: South Donetsk, Bakhmut, and Zaporozhye, the latter being of primary focus.

This comes hours after Moscow accused the collective West of "nuclear terrorism" after authorities confirmed that a Ukrainian drone had struck the western Russian town of Kurchatov, where a nuclear power station similar to the ill-fated Chernobyl plant is located.

Roman Starovoit, the governor of Russia's Kursk region, announced that the attack impacted a residential building saying "a drone crashed in the town of Kurchatov overnight," adding, "Fortunately, none of the residents were injured. Critical facilities were not damaged as a result of the drone crash and its subsequent detonation."

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed that Ukraine's losses since the beginning of the counteroffensive amounted to more than 26,000 troops and 3,000 units of various weapons.

Shoigu considered that the Ukrainian military has not reached the goal of the counteroffensive in any of the directions.