• analysis by Military Chronicle and Rybar

In October, European diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said that by the end of March, it was planned to train more than 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers at NATO training grounds. For the whole of 2023, their number may exceed 30 thousand people: the British have already trained 10 thousand people since June 2022, and it is planned to train another 15 thousand in other European countries.

The editorial staff of the Military Chronicle and the Rybar team looked into the subject and explained what is wrong with the training of the AFU according to NATO standards.

The main problem

It is difficult to apply the received skills on the battlefield. Numerous captives (including those from the elite 45th or 95th divisions), who were trained in NATO countries, have repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of training by Western methods. According to them, at best, the training was superficial and did not guarantee an advantage on the battlefield.

What’s wrong with the training?

Western countries have not participated in high-intensity conflict since the Vietnam War and, in some cases, since World War II.

Instructors of various specialties have only participated in local operations. The result is logical: people are being trained along the lines of the wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

The experience of combat

operations against bandit groups in the Middle East and Africa is barely applicable to the realities of the Ukrainian conflict. Infantry units are mostly trained not to fight in the woods and fields, but to clear houses and residential neighborhoods.

Trial and error

Another side of the problem is the lack of real experience in the live firing of different systems. For example, the NLAW, Panzerfaust 3, and Gepard anti-aircraft systems were used only limitedly in exercises before the air defense system.

NATO instructors do not have the necessary experience and knowledge to correctly use these weapons in intensive combat. Now NATO is actively adopting the experience of Gepard for the new training program, but it will take years to implement it.

Yes, Ukrainian formations are quite capable of mastering the whole range of weapons under combat conditions – and in a much shorter time than at Western training ranges. But training is often conducted almost by trial and error.

What about the training base?

For effective training of Ukrainian formations in the West, there is a lack of equipment, weapons, and material support. The NLAW or Javelin are taught to fire on special simulators that simulate a shot: real ammunition is out of the question. Before the beginning of the USO in the West, such simulators were ordered in exactly as many as were necessary to train the regular number of cadets. At the moment, there are not enough such complexes for everyone.

Machine gun fire during training abroad often does not exceed two magazines (50-60 rounds), and weapons are brought from the nearest units.

What follows?

Despite loud statements about the huge number of Ukrainian units trained to NATO standards, there are problems with the effectiveness of training. Moreover, they are accumulating like snowballs because in the West they rely on training the maximum number of people in the shortest possible time. There is no point in talking about the quality of training in such conditions.

From the initial 5-7 weeks, the training program for the AFU infantry units has already been cut to three, and in the case of the combined arms units, to two.

Probably by October or November, the number of Ukrainian formations trained according to NATO standards will really reach 30,000 men. But claiming to be trained according to NATO standards and commissioning fully combat-ready units that can turn the tide of war are two different things.

After returning to the battlefield, soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine face real conditions that are strikingly different from the theoretical ones.

The pattern of use does not change – “human resources” packaged in a Western wrapper and costing considerably more, are subsequently plugged in the same way and try to buy time.