Lithuania Plans Expansion of Ukrainian Training Program
The baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have been staunch supporters of Ukraine. Lithuania’s military has been providing training of various sorts since 2015 and in 2023 looks to expand its support for Ukraine further. Back in April, Lithuania’s Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys announced that Lithuania would train an undisclosed number of Ukrainian troops on how to use various anti-tank weapons at locations within Lithuania. There has so far been no imagery released of this training.
Lithuania’s Military Academy has also provided a distance learning course online for junior leaders and at the end of October it was announced that 120 junior officers had received training across 4 two-day courses.
In the summer an in-person course that has seen Ukrainian personnel travel to Lithuania for training was established. A course at the Division General Stasys Raštikis Lithuanian Armed Forces School ended in early June. The four week course included weapons handling and marksmanship, map training, fieldcraft and tactics. Organised as part of the NATO Defence Education Enhancement Program (DEEP) it was during these courses Ukrainian personnel have been seen training with Lithuanian G36s.
Additionally, Lithuanian instructors have also been training Ukrainian personnel in other countries including the UK. It was announced on 19 October, that a team of military instructors formed from members of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Great Hetman Jonušas Radvila Training Regiment, Division General Stasys Raštikis Lithuanian Armed Forces School, General Adolfas Ramanauskas Warfare Training Centre and the Military Medical Service had joined a multi-national training effort providing basic military training for Ukrainian troops at bases in the UK.
In mid November it was announced that instructors from Ukraine had also taken part in an international instructor course. The course reportedly covered training techniques, weapons training, instruction organisation. The Lithuanian Ministry of Defence also noted that throughout December, there had been more specific courses for Ukrainian personnel on CBRN-contaminated operational environments, courses on UAVs and on intelligence collection from open sources.
Summarising the training provided, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence said 18 different courses had been delivered including: basic individual skills, junior officer command, instructor, special forces, demolition and demining courses. Operators and maintenance for different types of military equipment were also trained.
In early December, Lithuania announced that in 2023 training of Ukrainian troops would be stepped up with 1,100 personnel to be trained in Lithuania. Part of the courses scheduled in 2023 will be a part of the new European Union’s Military Assistance Mission Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine).
Header Image: Ukrainian troops training in Lithuania (Lithuanian MoD)