Ukrainian soldiers walk past a barricade in central Kiev, June 30, 2022 (Image: Getty)
The Daily Express was invited to watch the last Ukrainian troops complete their training on Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems and L119 light guns on Salisbury Plain. We witnessed the troops firing grenade after grenade into the Wiltshire countryside as they trained new weapons to fight Vladimir Putin’s forces.
This paper understands that Kiev will receive 3 MLRS systems, which can hit targets 52 miles away and about 50 L119 guns.
The Ukrainian soldiers thanked the British troops for their training and added: “It is really important for us to understand that the world has not forgotten us”.
Soldiers from the Royal Artillery Regiment trained dozens of Ukrainians on the Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) in a three-week crash course.
The training of British soldiers usually takes five weeks, but the military leaders decided to focus on speed so that they could return to the front line.
Some translators working alongside British and Ukrainian troops fled to the UK as refugees after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
Captain James Oliphant, who oversaw the training on the MLRS system, said: “Now they are extremely proficient on this system, it’s like showing a kid how to ride a bike. They don’t want you to hold onto the back of the chair anymore.
“They’re at the point where they just want to go back and start using that equipment.”
Captain Oliphant said British troops along with the Ukrainian soldiers “worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week throughout their stay here.”
In total, British forces have trained more than 450 Ukrainian soldiers in recent weeks on a combination of MLRS, L119 light guns, air defense techniques and surveillance and target acquisition.
Ukrainian commanders revealed that they were “really impressed” by the British MLRS and are now turning their attention to how to use the missile systems to fend off the Russian advance in the Donbas.
Kiev has pleaded with the West for more heavy long-range artillery systems to attack Russian forces advancing through eastern Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Russian troops are “taking ground close to World War I levels. Meters.”
The Kremlin relies on brutal artillery strikes to force Ukraine into submission.
A Ukrainian major told the Daily Express that by giving Kiev the MLRS, Britain will give the war-torn nation new hope that they can fend off Moscow’s killers.
He said: “If others in our armed forces realize that we have MLRs, they will have a strong motivation. That is so crucial for all of us.
“Not just for the armed forces, but for the entire Ukrainian people, just to understand that we are powerful.
“We are so grateful for your support and assistance. We are extremely grateful to the teaching team. It is really important for us to understand that the world has not forgotten us and remembers our struggle.”
The Ukrainian commander added: “Our Ukrainian boys are in combat mood and ready to return. They understand that they are preparing to improve the situation. We are confident it will help us in our struggle.
An instructor talks to a group of soldiers during tactical weapons exercises on June 28, 2022 in Kharkiv (Image: Getty)
“A month ago, all the Ukrainian troops that are here were on the battlefield. We are here to improve our knowledge, to get something new, to continue our struggle.
“The only word I can use to describe the feeling is fatigue.
“They are really tired. At first they were a little scared of the situation. Now they are just tired.
“But in the same way they are so motivated to continue their struggle.
The major said Ukrainian troops were “really impressed” with the weapons systems.
He said: “We are confident that with these systems we will have the opportunity to win.
“The tactical features of these systems are much better than our Ukrainian systems. Much better for us to use against the Russians.
“It’s about his mobility and his speed and the accuracy of this system and the survivability of this and the Ukrainian troops.”
Captain Oliphant admitted it was clear there was extra motivation for the Ukrainian troops and revealed “they are very eager to learn”.
He said: “Once we found out they were professional rocket gunners, the pace of the course and its delivery became much easier. We spoke the same language despite the language barrier between Ukrainian and English.
“We have a very conscious approach to the training pipeline in the British Army which revolves primarily around security and ensuring that all the exercises and processes we teach our soldiers are done so meticulously so as not only to reduce risk while we train in the UK and abroad, as well as on operational deployment. The Ukrainians will do things differently.
“The entire period that they are here, we teach them seven days a week from 8 am to 6 pm.
“Their appetites at the beginning, as you can imagine, were extremely high and very needy, but as they have become more attuned and used to the system they have started to calm down and now they are in a position where the commander is now himself exercises his troops according to his own doctrine and tactics.”
Hundreds of troops were also trained on L119 guns during a massive training program.
Groups of instructors, supported by translators, worked with Ukrainian troops while being shown how to set up, aim and fire the L119 systems.
The Daily Express witnessed the completion of a live fire training of Ukrainians.
They were first shown that the weapons are safe before evolving to fire at certain distances.
Warrant Officer 1 Rebecca Bullock, 40, Master Gunner, member of the Royal Artillery Capability assurance team, helped train Ukrainian troops.
She said: “I know they are happy with this system.
“This is like a conversion course. Their motivation to learn quickly is incredible. They don’t really take many breaks. They are here to learn.
“They know their learning period is fairly short, so the motivation to gain as much knowledge as possible has been noticed – they work, work and work and they ask a lot of questions.
“How can they speed up the process, how can they be faster, how can they move faster, how can they spring into action. It’s all about speed is their primary focus.
“It can be thrown into the back of helicopters, pushed around, uphill, downhill, towed by trucks big and small. It’s a great weapon they’re going to use it for.”