"Rossiyskaya Gazeta" in the article under the heading "FT: Training of Ukrainian soldiers in Britain caused problems" writes :
“The training of Ukrainian fighters in Britain caused a number of problems. Writes about it Financial Times .
The project, which is overseen by Downing Street, is training Ukrainian soldiers in the handling of weapons, combat tactics and cybersecurity at a training ground in northern England. They practice "fights with the Russians", in the role of which the Dutch instructors act, who from time to time return to their positions. In total, instructors from eight Western countries are involved at the training ground. <…>
The problem in training, Westerners say, is connected with the extremely low level of training of Ukrainian recruits, who were recruited only this year from among ordinary citizens and who do not have any basic training. Kyiv sent recruits in a hurry, their category included men and women aged 18 to 30 years old, including those sent from remote villages. <…>
“Battlefields are dirty, noisy, smelly and intimidating,” said Lieutenant Colonel John Harris, who is in charge of training Ukrainians at this British training ground. Fake blood, taped screams, amputee actors, and flooded trenches add to the grim feel and shock of the recruits. Harris acknowledged that these recruits would be hard pressed against the tens of thousands of mobilized Russian soldiers who, after proper training, would be a formidable force.
Moskovsky Komsomolets adds the details:
“Many of them react with horror to fake blood, amputees and flooded trenches and other “special effects” designed to add realism to the learning process.
According to the organizers of the training, Ukrainian cadets will not be able to fully master the tactics of combat, handling weapons and the basics of cybersecurity in five weeks of training.”
Some of the problems the Financial Times does acknowledge are that the recruits in the program are drawn from different parts, not all of them will have to fight together. In addition, they are trained on an accelerated program in 5 weeks, while for British soldiers a 14-week course is provided. But beyond that, the article “Ukrainian Recruits Prepare for Battle at British Boot Camp” says this:
“Given the horrendous losses [on both sides], victory will partly depend on which side can quickly prepare new forces. Hence the British-led program, which includes instructors from eight Western Allied nations. It started in June, with 7,000 Ukrainian soldiers already trained, with 3,000 more to be trained before Christmas. A similar EU initiative aimed at training 15,000 soldiers was launched this month in Germany and Poland.
“Battlefields are dirty, noisy, smelly and intimidating,” said Lieutenant Colonel John Harris, who is in charge of training Ukrainians at the British training ground. “You don’t want to be in such conditions for the first time in a real battle. We are trying to inoculate them against the pressure they may face.” <…>
Moscow has recruited up to 200,000 recruits, and according to Putin, 50,000 of them are already in combat. Although they are often poorly trained, poorly equipped and have low morale, when they add to the roughly 170,000 Russian soldiers already in Ukraine it will be "a large number of people, a force that should be taken seriously," said the Western defense adviser. <…>
We return to the English training ground. A grenade exploded near Ukrainian conscripts who were learning to provide first aid. Fake blood, taped screams, supposedly mutilated actors, and waterlogged moats add to the sense of realism. <…>
“They [Ukrainian recruits] are the most motivated, determined and eager to learn I have worked with around the world in my 20 years of military service,” Harris said. “Being knee-deep in water for 36 hours, they can still laugh, joke and answer questions quickly, that’s what.” <…>
The Russian military faces more serious coordination problems when dealing with recruits. “They have little experience in effectively integrating additional infantry forces recently mobilized into maneuver formations,” said [Franz-Stephan] Gade, [senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies]. “The whole structure of the Russian military makes it difficult.”
Take courage, motivation and fighting spirit, which Ukrainians do not have. Throw in some training and you'll have a top-notch soldier."
Details about the low level of training of Ukrainians, as well as about the fact that they are horrified by the imitation of combat conditions, are clearly composed by Russian propagandists.
