Since May 2022, the Royal Navy has been providing training to full Ukrainian sailor crews, teaching them how to operate Sandown Class Mine Counter Measures Vessels.

The Ukrainian Naval Forces Press Service announced this.

Volodymyr Havrylov, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister, and James Heappey, UK Minister for the Armed Forces, visited a Royal Navy Sandown Class mine hunter at sea.

They observed the training provided to Ukrainian sailors under last year’s agreement within the Ukrainian Naval Capabilities Enhancement Programme (UNCEP).

Ukrainian troops have undertaken initial courses in training establishments in a range of specialisms, including SONAR operation, engineering, damage control and navigation.

Ukrainian servicemen are undertaking weapons training and improving their skills in damage control and navigation. The exercise is being conducted alongside Royal Navy crews sharing their experience and providing operational training at sea.

The Ukrainian Navy shared that the UK has offered to train up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops in battlefield skills to help them sustain their heroic defence in the face of some of the most intense fighting seen in Europe in decades.

The training will provide volunteer recruits with little to no military experience with the skills to be effective in frontline combat.

Developed based on the UK’s basic soldier training, the training course covers weapons handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics, and the Laws of Armed Conflict.

The UK Government has rapidly procured AK assault rifles for the training program, which means that the Ukrainian soldiers can train with the weapons they will be using in the front line.

The programme is part of the UK’s enduring commitment to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s unprovoked invasion, which so far amounts to more than £2.3 billion in military aid.

In November 2021, Vadym Prystaiko, Ukrainian Ambassador to Great Britain, signed a Ukrainian-British framework agreement, which provides for the allocation of funds for the construction of eight missile boats, the purchase of two minesweepers, and the creation of two naval bases. Subsequently, the Ukrainian Navy started forming crews for Sandown Class Mine Counter Measures Vessels.