Spanish Defence Minister meets 225 Ukrainians who arrived in Spain for military training

Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles met on Thursday evening (12 January) with a group of 225 Ukrainian citizens who had arrived to undergo military training for further participation in the war against Russia.

Source: Spanish international news agency EFE, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Robles met the Ukrainians at the Torrejon Air Base near Madrid, accompanied by Teodoro López Calderón, Chief of the Defence Staff of the Spanish Armed Forces, and Serhii Pohoreltsev, Ukrainian Ambassador to Spain.

Quote: "It is a great honour for me to welcome them here, in Spain. Spain has felt very close to the entire Ukrainian people since 24 February," said the Spanish Minister of Defence, expressing her admiration for their "heroism, bravery and the way they defend their country".

"For us, the end of the war means the recovery of all temporarily occupied territories," the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain emphasised, thanking the Spanish government for its support and quick response to Kyiv's request.

The Ukrainians flew to Spain on a Spanish Air Force Airbus 330. Out of the 225 Ukrainians who arrived, 198 are civilians without military experience who were mobilised by Ukraine to fight in the war with Russia after the full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian recruits will take part in a basic combat training module at the Toledo Training and Coordination Centre at the Infantry Academy.

It was noted that this is the second group of Ukrainian servicemen who will be trained at this centre, after the first module held in November and December for 64 Ukrainians.

Background: The Spanish Minister of Defence stated that Spain has the capacity to train 2,400 Ukrainian soldiers a year as part of a recently approved EU mission.

Recently, she also stated that Switzerland had vetoed the supply of certain military aid to Ukraine.

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