225 Ukrainians arrive in Spain for military training to master the HAWK air defense system in particular

A group of 225 Ukrainian citizens has arrived in Spain in order to undergo military training under the European Union Training Mission for Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense of Spain reported this.

The Ukrainians reached Spain on an Airbus 330 aircraft of the Spanish Air and Space Forces.

Minister of Defense Margarita Robles, accompanied by the Chief of the General Staff of the Spanish Army and the Ambassador of Ukraine, met them on Thursday evening at the Torrejón Air Base near Madrid.

198 of this group are civilians without military experience who were mobilized into the Ukrainian army after the full-scale Russian invasion.

The mobilized will attend the basic combat training module held at the “Toledo Training Command” on the basis of the Infantry Academy of Spain.

So far, this is the second group of Ukrainian servicemen to undergo training at this center since the first training course, which was organized for 64 servicemen in November-December.

The other 20 Ukrainian servicemen will undergo a basic two-week familiarization course with the Hawk air defense system, six launchers of which Spain has handed over to Ukraine.

The military training program is designed to rotate about 400 Ukrainian soldiers every two months.

The training programs offered by Spain entail basic military training, first aid to the wounded on the battlefield, high-precision shooting, disposal of improvised explosive devices, demining of territories, use of anti-aircraft weapons and other branches depending on the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As previously reported, a group of 21 Ukrainian servicemen underwent training in the use of OTO Melara Mod 56 105-mm towed howitzers, which took place in Spain.

Besides, 19 Ukrainian servicemen were trained in the use of the Aspide anti-aircraft missile system. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, announced the arrival of the Aspide anti-aircraft missile system in early November 2022.