Latvia to Quadruple Training of Ukrainian Military
Latvia will quadruple the number of trainings for the Ukrainian military by the end of 2023, the press service of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reports.
This was discussed during a meeting in Kyiv between the delegations of the defence ministries of the two countries, chaired by Ministers Rustem Umerov and Andris Spruds.
Mykola Huben, a representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that since July 2022, with the assistance of the Latvian side, about 350 Ukrainian servicemen have been trained in several areas of training. In 2023, the volume of training with the participation of Latvia more than quadrupled, and by the end of the year, more than 1,500 more Ukrainian servicemen will be trained.
Huben added that these trainings significantly improve the quality of personnel training. At the same time, the Ukrainian side proposes to take into account the combat experience gained by the Ukrainian military in the further training process.
"It is proposed that in 2024, with the participation of Latvia, we will train approximately 96 unit commanders and 360 combat medics," the representative of the General Staff said.
Latvia trains the Ukrainian military in such areas as basic general military training, officer-sergeant leadership training, sapper training, rifleman training, and others.
As The Gaze previously reported, Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds discussed with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov the creation of a "drone coalition" in support of Ukraine. He confirmed that his country would continue to support and cooperate with Ukraine. Spruds explained that the "drone coalition" and the technology to develop it are important to help save lives and bring Ukraine's victory closer. The allies agreed to create several ad hoc coalitions to develop Kyiv's military capabilities.
Before that, the Baltic presidents discussed regional cooperation and assistance to Ukraine.
In October, the US State Department approved the sale of six HIMARS missile systems and ATACMS long-range missiles to Latvia. The total value of this deal is approximately $220 million. Latvia's Defence Minister Andris Spruds noted that this deal would significantly increase the combat capabilities of the Latvian Armed Forces.
Latvia is not the only European country that has recently decided to strengthen its military readiness with the help of US missile systems. In early October, it became known that Estonia would also purchase ATACMS and HIMARS from the United States.