Ukrainian troops train for trench warfare near France's WWI battlefields

Soldiers scramble done trenches nether a haze of yellowish smoke, instrumentality gunfire booms crossed the fields, invisible drones buzz overhead and voices shriek successful Ukrainian "Watch out!"

The country could beryllium 1,860 miles distant successful Ukraine's Donbas region, but alternatively immoderate 2,000 Ukrainian conscripts and veterans are grooming successful the muddy fields of France's eastbound Marne region, wherever French and German armies erstwhile hammered each different during World War I. 

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The inaugural is portion of a European Union-funded programme that has already prepared 60,000 Ukrainians for the beforehand lines since Russia invaded Ukraine successful 2022. 

For this training, the French subject has tried to recreate the conditions faced by the Ukrainian forces backmost home, portion grooming them connected the instrumentality that France is providing.

A grooming league involving immoderate 2,000 Ukrainian conscripts and veterans takes spot successful the muddy fields of the Champagne subject campy successful eastbound France, Thursday. (Reuters/John Irish)

This includes 128 armored vehicles for unit movements and reconnaissance, Caesar howitzers, anti-tank rocket units, surface-to-air missiles and battlefield radars. 

The Anne of Kyiv brigade - named aft a princess who joined French King Henri I successful 1051 successful adjacent Reims cathedral - has been grooming successful France since September, and successful the adjacent 10 days volition caput to Poland earlier being dispatched to the front.

French officials accidental Ukraine needs arsenic galore arsenic 15 caller highly trained, battle-ready brigades, particularly amid uncertainty implicit aboriginal Western subject assistance pursuing the triumph of Donald Trump - a beardown professional of specified assistance - successful the U.S. elections.

'WAR FOR OUR EXISTENCE'

Most of the Ukrainians being trained present lone joined the service a period earlier coming to France, portion astir 10% are veterans. Their mean property is 38, but immoderate are arsenic aged arsenic 50.

Those who spoke to Reuters sounded apprehensive but determined to support their country.

"Fear is portion of war. For us, it's a warfare for our beingness and survival," said Ukrainian Col. Dmytro Rymschyn, 38, who heads the Anne of Kyiv brigade. 

"We volition soon spell backmost to our autochthonal onshore and our brigade volition amusement its competence. I judge successful our victory."

Mykhailo, 50, who near a chemic mill to articulation the army, was trained to pb an AMX airy vessel squadron.

When asked whether helium hoped the warfare could extremity by year-end, helium smiled awkwardly: "The anticipation is that it finishes earlier we person to spell back."

French officials said the existent trainees, contempt galore being civilians, were learning rapidly and were showing however Ukraine's service tin accommodate contempt shortages connected the ground. 

After 9 weeks of training, the Ukrainians were present able, for example, to repel an onslaught connected their trenches and to equine a counter-attack.

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French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu told reporters France hoped to hole much specified troops successful coming months.

"There is simply a definite quality constituent to each of this," helium added. "There is an speech with radical present who successful respective weeks volition beryllium successful a combat concern connected the frontline and immoderate of them whitethorn good suffer their lives."