Macron posts footage of Ukrainian military brigade training in France – video

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron released footage of the Anna of Kyiv Brigade of Ukraine's Armed Forces, which is currently training in France. [Anna of Kyiv was a princess of Kyivan Rus who became Queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I.]

Source: Macron on X (Twitter), cited by European Pravda

Details: The Ukrainian brigade is currently being trained in the eastern region of Grand Est, Macron said.

The French president wrote that he had made a commitment: the French military is now training 2,300 Ukrainian soldiers in Grand Est with the equipment that they will use during their combat missions.

He said the brigade would be trained and equipped thanks to the solidarity of France.

European Pravda had previously reported that Macron was planning to attend the Ukrainian military training in France on Wednesday. The president travelled to Grand Est together with the two countries’ defence ministers, Rustem Umierov and Sébastien Lecornu, the press service of the French Embassy in Ukraine said.

The embassy emphasised that France is the first country to train a full-fledged Ukrainian brigade on its territory, and that the initiative is unprecedented in terms of the number of soldiers trained and the duration of training. 

The embassy noted that the training covers a wide range of components, including infantry combat; the use of AMX10 RCs (French armoured combat vehicles); engineering exercises involving sappers; air defence exercises involving Mistral missiles; anti-tank combat exercises using Milan missiles; the use of unmanned aerial vehicles; sniper training; and firing exercises for Caesar artillery crews. 

The embassy said that as of 15 September 2024, France has already trained almost 15,000 Ukrainian servicemen under this programme. 

The training takes place on French territory and in Poland, where about a hundred French military personnel have been deployed as part of the European Union Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM).

The embassy also noted that since March, France has also been training Ukrainian pilots to fly Alpha Jet aircraft, which is a prerequisite for the transition to F-16 or Mirage 2000-5 fighters. 

In September, the French Armed Forces announced that the first group of Ukrainian pilots had completed their Alpha Jet training.

Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu recently promised that Ukraine would receive Mirage 2000 fighters next year.

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