MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. As many as 100,000 Ukrainian troops have received training in Western countries in a little under two years, Daniil Getmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) financial committee, said.
"Our partner countries have trained 100,000 troops for the Ukrainian armed forces. This result was achieved in less than two years, while the initial plan was to train 20,000 to 30,000 service members," he wrote on Telegram.
According to Getmantsev, there is a coalition of 32 countries united in two military missions, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and the European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine. The coalition is focused on training troops and providing instructors, training grounds and equipment.
The lawmaker highlighted four priorities of troop training. They include a basic military training course aimed at turning recruits into infantry riflemen in 35 days; training in the use of foreign-made weapons and military equipment, as well as the training of high-demand military specialists (combat medics, deminers and snipers among others); the training of commanders and instructors in various specialties who will share their knowledge with troops in Ukraine; and collective training of troops of various levels.
Getmantsev emphasized that Ukraine had limited opportunities to train troops on its own training grounds, so Kiev saw Western countries’ assistance as very important.