Video of Ukrainian troops training in France has been released ahead of President Emmanual Macron’s first visit to a French military training center to demonstrate the country’s commitment to Ukraine’s victory on Wednesday.
The compilation video offers a first look at dozens of Ukrainian soldiers taking lessons from French officers on field tactics, theory, and arms operations. The exclusive clip was provided to Kyiv Post by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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The Ukrainian troops can be seen practicing with a wide variety of hardware – including M270 rocket artillery systems, Caesar howitzers, and Alpha jets – in the French countryside and in specialized training grounds chosen to approximate the topographical challenges presented by the war in Ukraine.
Kyiv Post’s senior defense correspondent Stefan Korshak confirmed spotting the following instruction areas and hardware in the extended version of the video:
- Flight and crew training on Alpha jets
- Operation of the Caesar 155mm howitzer
- Operation of an older 122mm mortar
- Operation of an older Milan anti-tank missile
- Sniper training, firing range
- Operation of BAT-4 armored personnel carrier
- Combat engineer work, setting a det charge
- Operation of an anti-aircraft missile
- Operation of AMX-30 wheeled armored vehicle, firing
- Operation of the M270 rocket artillery system, firing
- Field tactics, clearing trenches and buildings
- Coordination of calling in artillery fires, target deconfliction
- Combat engineer work (mine clearing)
- Classroom training on movement to and attack of an enemy company
- Small unit tactics for leaders of troop units with 10-100 men and small units of 10-30 men
France has trained nearly 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers since announcing a new bilateral military partnership in February, France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) wrote in a statement to Kyiv Post.
Macron has promised to train an entirely new brigade – with some 4,500 soldiers – to help Ukraine fight back invading Russian forces who have occupied about 20% of the country’s territory since 2022. Officials said they expect the brigade to be fully trained and operable by the end of 2024.
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The new brigade is tentatively titled the Anna of Kyiv Brigade after Anna Yaroslavna, who married King Henri I of France in 1051. Anna, the daughter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kyivan Rus, had three children and became Queen Anne of Kyiv, the regent queen, after her husband’s death in 1060, ruling France for the next six years.
France has now joined a long list of international allies that have been training Ukrainian troops abroad since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, bolstering the resource capacity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
“By leading the artillery capability coalition, France demonstrates its long-term commitment to supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression and asserts a form of leadership in this segment by coordinating and ensuring the coherence of international aid in response to the AFU’s needs,” the French Foreign Ministry said.
Ukrainian troops trained in France learn high-value skills in areas like logistics, armored reconnaissance, urban combat, and health, along with specialized instruction on how to take advantage of NATO equipment currently in its arsenal.
Trained with Caesar self-propelled howitzers, anti-tank missiles, radar systems, and other powerful weaponry, the light infantry brigade includes a paired artillery division to stage combined arms attacks. The program aims to develop Ukrainian forces in multiple ways.
“The training provided by the French Armed Forces is twofold,” the Foreign Ministry said. Its aim is to strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to fight in unified combined arms combat and increase fighters’ ability to maximize their existing arsenal. Ministry representatives said some of the primary fields covered in the UA-FR partnership include:
- Leadership training
- Infantry combat (3 battalions)
- Armored combat (AMX10 RC)
- Engineering combat (sappers)
- Anti-air defense (Mistral)
- Maintenance and logistical support
- Anti-tank warfare (including Milan missiles)
- Drone operations
- Sniper training
- Artillery (CAESAR and mortars)
- Fighter pilot training
France has also been training Ukrainian F-16 pilots for months in compressed training courses on Alpha jets too.
“France’s military support to the AFU is comprehensive, tailored, and of high added value,” the MFA said. “Adapted to the needs expressed by the AFU, France’s resolute support to Ukraine is set for the long term.”
The visit comes as Volodymyr Zelensky has been touring the world in an effort to shore up support for Ukraine among foreign allies who have shied away from meeting some of Ukraine’s biggest requests for military aid ahead of the shake-up in American leadership that will take place after the presidential election next month.
The timing of the French president’s first visit to the training camp also coincides with turmoil at home. Macron’s party narrowly survived legislative elections in June that saw a surprise surge of votes for a far-right coalition, led by Marine Le Pen, for the first time in decades. The ruling party faced another no-confidence vote last week by a left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, which won the majority of seats in the snap elections earlier this year.
Macron will hold talks in Paris with Zelensky, in a new reaffirmation of French support for Kyiv in its fight against Russia's invasion.
This meeting from 1300 GMT, the fifth by Zelensky to Paris since the invasion in 2022, will be an opportunity for Macron “to reaffirm France’s determination to continue to provide, over the long term and with all of its partners, unwavering support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” the French presidency said in a statement.
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