British Military Has Trained Over 50,000 Ukrainian Soldiers

The UK is expanding its military support for Ukraine with a major funding package to provide new drone capabilities, as the defence against Putin’s illegal full-scale invasion enters its 1,000th day.

It follows confirmation from Defence Secretary John Healey MP on Monday that the number of Ukrainian armed forces recruits trained by the UK on British soil has passed 50,000. The Operation Interflex training has been delivered since the summer of 2022 and is now supported by 12 other countries.

The Prime Minister and Defence Secretary have been clear that the defence of the UK starts in Ukraine and are committed to stepping up and speeding up deliveries of military support.

It comes as spending by the UK Government on military support for Ukraine is now at its highest ever level since the start of the full-scale invasion – spending £3billion this year and every year for as long as it takes, as well £2.3bn from profits on frozen Russian assets.

Today, the Government is announcing further military support of £7.5 million of funding for new attack and surveillance drones, which will be invested through the drone coalition led by the UK and Latvia and drawn from the £3bn annual funding pool. This is on top of the £120m of funding announced by the Prime Minister last month for Ukraine’s Navy and maritime capabilities which will fund uncrewed surface vessels, and maritime ISR drones.

In a show of unity between the UK and its allies, the drone coalition will receive an additional £16m from countries including Germany (£10m), Canada (£3m), and Luxembourg (£3m) who have pledged to purchase drones through the coalition. This brings the total fund to £67m, including a total of £15m from the UK.

This additional support provides another significant boost for the capabilities of Ukraine’s Armed Forces in the face of Putin’s illegal war of aggression. Over the weekend, more than 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched by Russia at Ukraine’s infrastructure, killing civilians in eastern Ukraine.

The Chief of Defence Intelligence, Adrian Bird, will also be delivering a recorded intelligence update on social media, providing a comprehensive overview of the conflict. This includes:

• More than 700,000 Russian casualties (dead and wounded). The daily average of Russian casualties in the first 17 days of November 2024 has now risen to 1,531.
• Russian equipment destroyed includes 3,558 tanks, 147 helicopters, 132 fixed wing aircraft, 1,750 artillery and more than 8,500 armoured vehicles. A total of 26 Russian vessels have also been destroyed or damaged in the Black Sea
• Iranian military aid to Russia has included the supply of hundreds of one-way attack drones, artillery munitions, and extensive support to Russian domestic drone production. Iran has also delivered Fatah-360 close range ballistic missiles to Russia.

To read more, please visit the MOD's website.