At the same time, Viktor Nazarov pointed out that some of the weapons systems supplied to Kiev are "quite old and require major repairs before commissioning"BERLIN, March 2.
/tass/. Ukrainian General Viktor Nazarov claims that about 50 thousand soldiers from Ukraine have now been trained in the West in accordance with NATO standards.
"I think about 50 thousand," Nazarov said in an interview published on Thursday with Der Spiegel, answering the relevant question. The publication calls the Ukrainian general a military adviser advising the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny. "These are those who have been trained in courses or participated in joint exercises. Over the past six months, a system has been created in which our instructors, who have gained experience from Western partners, train more soldiers," he added. At the same time, Nazarov said that the Ukrainian military, as practice shows, master the skills of handling various types of weapons "in a relatively short time."
At the same time, he stressed that some of the weapons systems supplied to Kiev are "quite old and require major repairs before commissioning." "Sometimes technical documentation is missing, or it has yet to be translated. Our soldiers must learn how to repair and maintain [equipment]. High-tech weapons, such as the German [ACS] Panzerhaubitze 2000 and the Polish Krab artillery installation, need repair at factories," the Ukrainian general stated.
Answering the question about the amount of ammunition that Kiev has, Nazarov pointed out that "this is the most difficult point." "Our Western partners have effective and powerful ammunition, but their quantity is much less than our needs," he said. "Therefore, the Russians have an advantage in firepower in areas such as Bakhmut (the Ukrainian name of Artemovsk - approx. TASS). The Western press reported that 14 thousand 155-mm shells are produced monthly in the USA. Now production should be increased to 90 thousand," Nazarov summed up, specifying that 14 thousand shells is "as much as Kiev spends in three days."
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany has trained more than 3 thousand Ukrainian soldiers since the beginning of the special military operation of the Russian Federation, in the near future more than 1 thousand soldiers from Ukraine will be trained in Germany. By closely coordinating their training initiatives with the United States and the United Kingdom, he said, "Germany thereby becomes the central platform for the training of the Ukrainian military in Europe."