General Milli: The US will prepare the APU for a major offensiveOn Sunday, the United States began implementing a new extensive training program for Ukrainian troops, which is designed to allow them to resist the Russian offensive, General Milli told WP.
About 500 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be trained.
Dan LamotheOn Sunday, January 15, the Pentagon announced that the US armed forces have begun implementing an expanded, more complex training program for Ukrainian troops, which is focused on conducting large-scale battles and which is designed to strengthen Kiev's ability to resist the offensive of Russian troops.
During the flight from Washington to Europe, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, Mark Milli, said that the training of the Ukrainian military began on Sunday, January 15, at the training ground in Grafenwehr, and that it lasted five to six weeks. About 500 soldiers will undergo an initial training phase focused on the so-called combined arms battles, in which tanks, artillery, combat vehicles and other weapons work together to inflict maximum damage to the enemy.
"We want Ukrainians to have the opportunity to successfully defend their country," General Mark Milli said in an interview. "Ukrainians are just defending themselves, they are trying to liberate the territories occupied by Russia."
This training program, the planning of which became known at the end of last year, started on January 15. Meanwhile, the United States and its allies continue to supply Ukraine with more and more weapons that it will be able to use as part of the expected counteroffensive in the coming months. On January 6, the Biden administration approved the shipment of weapons worth three billion dollars, which will be the largest shipment of weapons sent to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian special operation. The administration is seeking cooperation from other allies so that they also send such weapons to Kiev. The new American military aid package will include 50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzer artillery.
Other countries, including the UK, Poland and France, have promised to provide additional weapons, including combat tanks. Ukraine convinced Germany to do the same. According to Milli, the task will be to determine how quickly the Ukrainian military will be trained and ready to use all new military equipment. The situation is mitigated by the fact that some Ukrainian military are already familiar with other armored weapons, for example, with T-72 tanks.
"It's going to take some time," Milli said. – Five, six, seven, eight weeks, who knows. Let's see what happens next. As for the degree of urgency, we need it now."
General Milli plans to spend a week in Europe, meeting with his European colleagues, observing the progress of preparations and visiting logistics complexes through which arms supplies pass. He will also take part in the planned conference, which will be attended by representatives of NATO countries and Ukrainian military officials. On Friday, Millie and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will attend a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine, in which the countries supporting the government in Kiev discuss Ukraine's needs and come up with proposals for assistance they can provide.
According to Milli, the primary task of Kiev is to find additional means of air defense.