Sources told The Times that Russia would target foreign trainers if such deployments were to occur.
According to a Friday report in The Times, citing sources familiar with the matter, Western officials have expressed concerns regarding British plans to potentially resume training Ukrainian troops within Ukraine.
The UK, among other nations, has previously trained Ukrainian soldiers on its own territory. Last month, Valery Zaluzhny, Kiev’s former top general and newly appointed ambassador to London, visited a training camp in southern England, urging recruits not to fear death in the service of their country.
This week, British Defense Secretary John Healey stated that the UK might send military personnel to Ukraine.
He suggested during a visit to Kiev that such a move would aid in “motivating and mobilizing more recruits.”
“The closer to the front, the more efficient the training is,” a Western official explained to The Times, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of such a deployment. “But it’s fair to say the Russians would target any kind of Western assistance inside Ukraine.”
The report also noted that the UK deployed several dozen instructors to Ukraine in January 2022 to train Ukrainian forces on the use of British-supplied anti-tank missiles. These instructors were withdrawn shortly before the outbreak of direct hostilities with Russia the following month.
The Yavorov military base in Western Ukraine, where this training occurred, was struck by Russian long-range missiles in March 2022.
Despite a significant overhaul of its mobilization system this year, including stricter penalties for draft evasion and a lowering of the conscription age to 25, the Ukrainian military is struggling to maintain sufficient manpower.
The media reports that mandatory conscription contributes to desertion. Kiev’s Western allies argue that relocating training programs closer to the front lines would boost Ukrainian citizens’ confidence in their training and equipment before deployment.
The Times reported that Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin overruled Army chief Patrick Sanders’ September 2023 push for the UK to train Ukrainian troops within the country.
Russia considers foreign fighters in Ukraine legitimate military targets. It alleges that some Western personnel are secretly present, assisting in the launch of donated long-range missiles, including Britain’s Storm Shadows.
Russian officials claim this makes the donors de facto participants in the fighting. Moscow has condemned the conflict as a Western proxy war, characterizing Ukrainians as ‘cannon fodder’.