Ukraine needs more heavy vehicles from the Western ward. Photo IT
The Pentagon announced that the first group of Ukrainian troops has completed “battalion-level coordinated weapons training” at the US Army’s Grafenwoehr training range in Germany. The training focuses on the use of the M2 Bradley armored vehicle, which was promised in early January and begins arriving in Germany this week.
“About 635 Ukrainians completed the approximately five-week course,” Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder said in a statement. The training included “basic soldier duties such as marksmanship, along with medical training, squad, platoon and company training, and a battalion-level force drill,” he added. “.
General Ryder said the second group began training in early February, while another 700 Ukrainians were being taught how to operate the M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer. Another 900 Ukrainians will begin training in field artillery and M1126 Stryker armored vehicles next week.
Located in eastern Bavaria, Grafenwoehr was originally built by the German Empire before World War I and was expanded by the Wehrmacht in 1938 to practice Blitzkrieg tactics. American troops occupied it in 1945 and have operated since.
The Pentagon began training Ukrainian forces at Grafenwoehr last May and expanded the program in December. However, the program was not limited to Europe, an unspecified number of Ukrainians also flew. to Fort Sill in Oklahoma, to receive training on the Patriot missile system.
Meanwhile, the first batch of Bradleys arrived at the US Army depot near Mannheim, Germany on Friday (February 17). A ship with regarding 60 vehicles left Charleston, South Carolina three weeks ago, shortly following the Pentagon announced it would send “tank killers” to Kiev. Since then, President Joe Biden has also promised to supply Ukraine with a batch of M1 Abrams main battle tanks, although they may not arrive before 2024.
Moscow has warned the US and its allies that continuing arms shipments to Kiev will only delay the inevitable and risk direct confrontation. Washington and NATO insist they are not a party to the conflict, even though they have sent more than $100 billion worth of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine over the past 12 months.