LONDON, December 20. /TASS/. The British government is unwilling to send military instructors to Ukraine due to concerns that they would be a target for Russian attacks, The Times reports, citing a Western official.

"The closer to the front, the more efficient the training is," he said, adding: "But it’s fair to say the Russians would target any kind of Western assistance inside Ukraine."

According to the paper, former British Chief of the General Staff General Patrick Sanders, who stepped down in June, "was pushing for the UK to train Ukrainians inside the country from September last year." However, Admiral Tony Radakin, "the chief of the defense staff, overruled him and advised Grant Shapps, the defence secretary at the time, against it."

Earlier in the week, British Defense Chief John Healy told The Times during a visit to Kiev that the UK could send troops to Ukraine to train Ukrainian forces. The British Defense Ministry said in November that its instructors had trained over 50,000 Ukrainian troops since February 2022.