British troops training Ukrainians for war horror

The Daily Express was given access to a training facility in the North of England (Image: Andy Commins)Commanders want to ‘innoculate’ Ukrainian recruits – many of whom have never been on the frontline before – from horrific conditions on the battlefield. The Daily Express was given access to a training facility in the North of England to witness Ukrainian troops ‘clearing’ houses of enemy troops, practising first aid and sweeping through housing estates.Russian trench systems have been created and they can be filled up to the knees with water.And to increase the ‘realistic’ nature of the training, speaker systems have been set up with ‘screams’ that rang out through the cold air intermittently to jar the new recruits as they are concentrating on the military skills they have picked up.Actors from Amputees in Action have been drafted in and they are covered in fake blood to train recruits if they encounter horrific battlefield injuries. British teachers want Ukrainian troops to be able to think clearly under pressure and to execute their training.The Daily Express witnessed pairs of Ukrainian troops alongside British and Dutch trainers clearing troops out of a given area using smoke bombs and small arms fire.Commanding officer Lt Col Jon Harris told this newspaper: ‘When we are training them over here, we are trying to replicate the battlefield situations they may find themselves in when they go back to Ukraine. The battlefield is noisy, it is dirty, it is smelly. ‘It is frightening. But the first time you face those conditions, you don’t want it to be for real. We’re trying to innoculate them against the stresses they may encounter. ‘It is sounds – bangs. There are assaults on the senses. ‘Light, sound, dirt, being tired, hearing disorientating things going on around you. ‘We train here with Amputees in Action. They are people who have lost limbs and we can use them and make up to replicate a really serious injury so they are experiencing what it is like slipping around on fake blood in a noisy, disorientating environment. Commanders want to ‘innoculate’ Ukrainian recruits (Image: Andy Commins)’So when they come across it, hopefully, they won’t, they have experienced some of that before. It is not a completely alien experience to them before.’There are around 1,900 Ukrainian recruits training in the UK. When they complete the training, they are provided with items including combat clothing, body armour and ear defence, waterproofs and sleeping bags.Recruits are also issued with a fully stocked individual First Aid Kit after learning how to use tourniquets, field dressings and chest seals during training.Around 9,000 troops have already been trained in the UK – with commanders expecting to hit the 10,000 mark by Christmas.Lt Col Harris said: ‘Every soldier starts as a civilian. But it is just about how long that journey is. The difference between these trainees we have here and recruits in any other army is that they are training with a definitive purpose and a time imperative. ‘They know they are returning to Ukraine in five weeks and they need to learn everything they can, everything they will need to survive, fight and win against Russia.’When they arrive off the coaches, I already get a sense of their hunger to learn, their determination to serve their country, to liberate their country.’Right from the beginning, I see motivated soldiers. ‘We let them speak to their families. When they are in camp, every day we provide them with facilities for them to speak to their families, whether they are back in Ukraine or refugees elsewhere in Europe.’ British teachers want Ukrainian troops to be able to think clearly under pressure (Image: Andy Commins)Commanders also teach Ukrainian troops tactics – how to clear buildings, outflank opponents, first aid and how to protect their electronic equipment from Russian cyber attacks. Brigadier Justin Stenhouse, who oversees the training, said the Ukrainians are ‘spending every hour of every day training and pushing our instructors to give them more’.Brigadier Stenhouse told how one group of 10 Ukrainians – who had received UK training – successfully repelled Russian assaults during a brave counter-offensive.As their platoon took cover, the 10 rose and ‘took the fight’ to the Russians, inspiring their colleagues to join them.The Daily Express witnessed how Ukrainians are being taught to sweep through buildings and towns, covering one another and suppressing enemy assaults before being able to attack. But this represents a significant change in the type of training they receive. In June, when infantry training was first announced, Ukrainains were taught purely defensive tactics.Now they are being actively training to retake territory.Brigadier Stenhouse told the Daily Express: ‘Earlier on, it was all about defensive training. ‘Now, there’s a balance between training them to take the fight to Russia and also defend, so they have a balance depending on where they are on the frontline.’Groups do stay together. One section of 10 stood up and took the fight to the Russians while others had taken cover.  The training areas stunk of fire and smoke and sounds of screams pierced through the air (Image: Andy Commins)’It inspired the rest of the platoon to get up and take the fight with them and afterwards after the enemy had been repulsed, he went to see them and said ‘why did you do this’ and they said ‘it was what we were told to do in the training in the UK.’They repulsed that incoming attack.’Highlighting how Ukrainian recruits are desperate to learn as much as they can during the five-week training course, Brigadier Stenhouse said ‘some of them have already got experience on the frontline, albeit with no training’.’The course that started in June is now almost completely different to what we are teaching now as we tailor it to what they need on the frontline.’The trench systems have replicated what they will see, along with the battlefield inoculation to make it as immersive and realistic as possible.’Lt Col Harris added: ‘Our recruits here in Britain are not facing an existential threat. The motivation to defend their country is still there. The Ukrainian trainees we are training here are among the most motivated, hungry-to-learn, trainees I’ve worked with in 20 years.’We train them in some really demanding conditions, trying to replicate the battlefield in Ukraine. We have built a Russian trench system. It fills up with water to their knees. So when they are in there, training, for 36 hours and are still able to laugh and joke and answer questions about what they are learning, that says it all to me. Many lesser people would want to give up in those conditions.’But British commanders say it is not just the Ukrainians who are learning from the partnership.Lt Col Harris said: ‘We are learning a huge amount. They have got 21st-century experience of fighting a peer adversary, so we pick up a huge amount about their tactics. ‘Soldiers are very similar all around the world. They share a dark sense of humour. It helps them to get through adversity.’