Finland for first time admits that it trained Ukrainian soldiers on its territory
For the first time, the Finnish Ministry of Defence has officially recognised the training of Ukrainian soldiers on its territory.
According to Censor.NET, citing the European Pravda, this was stated by the head of the Ministry of Defence, Antti Häkkänen.
According to the minister, Finnish instructors have already trained thousands of Ukrainians to full combat readiness. The vast majority of the exercises took place as part of EU and UK-led operations, while some were also held in Finland.
"We held small training events in Finland. In practice, it was technical training related to specific equipment. This is part of the normal operational training on the transferred combat systems," said Häkkinen.
The defence minister said that instructors in Finland trained Ukrainian soldiers in various areas, from basic to special forces training, noting that it was faster and more efficient compared to the Finnish model of training conscripts.
According to Häkkinen, training of Ukrainian soldiers will play an increasingly important role in supporting Ukraine.
"The key goal of any training operation is that as Ukraine mobilises more often, the West will also take more care of their training," he added.
In Europe, the Ukrainian military is trained mainly within two programmes - Interflex, led by the UK, and the EU-led EUMAM initiative.
