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Western instructors are teaching Ukrainian troops how to fight a war they've never fought themselves, but it works, officials say. More than 56,000 Ukrainian troops have been trained by Western allies under the UK-led Operation Interflex since June 2022, giving Ukraine's soldiers the skills they need to survive and fight in Europe's biggest land war since World War II. Strangely, many of the Ukrainian troops who come to training arrive straight from the front lines — fresh from trench assaults, drone strikes, and days under artillery fire — while some of the instructors have never fought in a war like the one they came from. Col. Boardman, commanding officer for Operation Interflex, explained that the UK's Ministry of Defence is well aware of this unusual dynamic. Far from being a disadvantage, he said, the mix of Western warfighting doctrine and Ukrainian battlefield experience produces tactics that are better than either side's knowledge alone. "I'm conscious of our need to have credibility even though we may not have up-to-date combat experience of this type," he said. "But I don't see that as a disqualifying factor, if you like, because I think we do have the institutional credibility and expertise that what we're teaching is genuinely valued, not only at the top end of the Ukrainian military, but right all the way down through to those who actually go through the training."
The West hasn't fought a major war against a powerful, industrialized military in decades. Ukraine is battling one of the world's largest militaries in a grinding, high-casualty war with no control of the skies. Russia's relentless artillery fire, missile strikes, and widespread use of drones have reshaped the battlefield in ways NATO has not faced for generations, or in some cases at all. Now, Boardman said, there's a renewed focus on combating a well-armed foe. That has meant dusting off tactics such as trench warfare and learning as much as possible from Ukraine's front-line soldiers about emerging threats like exploding drones. Boardman said Ukrainian soldiers bring “a lot of valuable military experience” to the training. That experience often challenges NATO’s best practices and leads to adjustments. "This isn't a completely charitable activity," Boardman explained. "There is a big benefit to us in doing this that we are learning an awful lot from our engagement with this war." Boardman said that information and tactics from Ukraine are fed to the UK and allies. "We want to teach them as much as we can," Boardman said of the Ukrainians and the war against Russia. "We also want to learn from it so we can benefit ourselves."
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