US military to expand training of Ukrainian forces in Germany

The US military announced on Thursday (15 December) that it will increase wartime training in Germany for Ukrainian military personnel fighting Russia’s invasion. This will be with a particular focus on joint maneuvers and mixed arms operations.

According to Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, the training of 500 Ukrainians per month will begin in January. This is on top of the more than 15,000 Ukrainian forces that have been trained by the United States since April.

This new training initiative will add to efforts to teach Ukrainians how to use billions of dollars of Western military equipment since the invasion of Russia on February 24th.

Ryder stated that "Combined arms maneuver training" is the next step in ongoing training efforts. Ryder was referring to training to attack multiple enemies simultaneously.

According to the Pentagon, the 7th Army Training Command, based in Grafenwoehr in Germany, will take the initiative at US military ranges in Germany.

Ryder stated that the training will focus on systems in use in the field, rather than future weapons.

Reuters reported earlier this week that the United States plans to offer Ukraine the Patriot missile defence system. This is one of the most advanced systems and could take months of training.

Ukraine asked its Western partners to provide air defenses including Patriot systems made by the United States, in order to defend it against heavy Russian missile attacks, as well as its energy infrastructure.

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