Ukrainian Combat Veterans to Train German Army Soldiers

Ukrainian service members with combat experience will train German army personnel in drone operations and protection against enemy attacks.

According to Der Spiegel, citing German armed forces representatives, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius signed the agreement on Friday, February 13, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Sources within the Bundeswehr said talks with Ukraine have been underway since 2025 on how Germany can leverage the Ukrainian Defense Forces’ real battlefield experience. The goal is to strengthen the combat readiness of German units.

The plan is to incorporate the experience Ukrainian soldiers gained in fighting Russian invasion forces into training programs at German military educational institutions.

In particular, this concerns experience with drone operations and protection against enemy attacks, as well as conducting operations using specialized applications.

“Currently, no one in NATO has more combat experience than Ukraine, and we must make use of it,” officers said.

Experienced Ukrainian service members are expected to arrive in Germany as soon as possible and will primarily participate in training for infantry units.

The German armed forces are also likely to benefit from Ukraine’s experience with modern command-and-control systems.

“In a very short time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine developed relatively simple systems for planning combat operations and managing their own forces, which can usually be used as applications on standard mobile phones,” the media noted.

Der Spiegel emphasized that, unlike the Bundeswehr’s systems – developed in peacetime and technically very complex – Ukrainian programs have already proven themselves on the front line and are continuously being improved.

Last November, General Christian Freuding announced plans for the Bundeswehr to involve Ukrainian veterans as instructors at Germany’s military academies.