French President Macron Showcases Training of Ukrainian Brigade in France

French President Emmanuel Macron revealed footage of the training of the Ukrainian Brigade named after Anna Kyivska, currently undergoing instruction in France. He shared this update on his X (Twitter) account.

The brigade is being trained in the Grand Est region of eastern France, where Macron stated that French military personnel are instructing approximately 2,300 Ukrainian soldiers. “I have made this commitment: our military is currently training 2,300 Ukrainian soldiers in Grand Est with the equipment they will use during their missions,” Macron noted.

The training program is part of France’s ongoing solidarity with Ukraine. The French president is scheduled to visit the Ukrainian soldiers training in France, accompanied by Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov and France’s Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

According to RBC, the French embassy in Ukraine emphasized that France is the first country to train a full Ukrainian brigade on its territory. The initiative is notable for the number of soldiers trained and the duration of the training, which has no parallel in other countries.

The training curriculum covers a comprehensive range of skills, including infantry combat, armored warfare utilizing the AMX-10 RC (a French armored fighting vehicle), engineering operations with sappers, air defense with Mistral missiles, anti-tank combat using Milan missiles, as well as the use of drones, snipers, and CAESAR artillery systems.

As of September 15, 2024, France has trained nearly 15,000 Ukrainian military personnel through this program. The training is conducted both in France and in Poland, where approximately 100 French military personnel have been deployed as part of the EUMAM mission.

Additionally, since March, France has been training Ukrainian pilots on Alphajet aircraft, which is a precursor to transitioning to F-16 or Mirage M2000-5 fighter jets.