NATO Forces Train Ukrainian Volunteers on Artillery in UK

NATO forces instructed Ukrainian volunteers on AS-90 self-propelled artillery guns during training sessions held in the United Kingdom, video released April 6 shows.

According to DVIDS, the guns, described as 155mm mobile artillery systems capable of firing up to six rounds per minute, are “being donated to Ukraine.”

Ukrainian fighters were also instructed in survival skills, weapons handling, and “the law of armed conflict,” according to DVIDS.

The instructors were from NATO Allies including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Norway, as well as NATO invitee Sweden, and partner countries Australia and New Zealand. Credit: NATO via Storyful

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[GUNFIRE]

[WIND RUMBLING]

[GUNFIRE]

[GUNFIRE]

[GUNFIRE]

[TANK RUMBLING]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

[TANK RUMBLING]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

[CLANKING]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SNEEZES] [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN] [COUGHS]

- Pro than the kneeling shooting with one shot each exposure.

[GUNFIRE]

[INAUDIBLE]

[GUNFIRE]

- And then we encourage you to be fast in case there's enemy on the other-- like this. You use the wall as a natural cover.

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- You have to take off the safety.

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- Hit.

[WIND RUMBLING]

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

[GUNFIRE]

- Clear.

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- Room clear.

[GUNFIRE]

[CASING CLINKING]

- Move in.

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

- Yes, you have to--

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

[GUNFIRE]

[CASINGS CLINKING]

[EXPLOSION]

[GUNFIRE]

[CASINGS CLINKING]

- So we're taking them on a free course from the basics of an AS-90's characteristics, is what the component parts are, the ordinance. We'll teach them the basics, like taking the breach out, move on to the maneuver phase, teach them how to deploy the gun out in the field, like the area we have around us now, how to deploy tactically, and how to actually move the gun in different scenarios. And then we move on to combination of live fire, which is behind us now, for a two-days live fire package to test their skills out in the field in an actual real-world environment.

- The focus of the course, is to give the volunteers to the Armed Forces of Ukraine the skills and principles to survive, fight, and win. So we're very much focused on basic skills and principles that the trainees can adapt to survive and fight, focusing on marksmanship principles, force protection, offensive and defensive operations, operations in both rural and urban environments.

So as well as focusing on the relevance of the course, we also focus on the realism and immersing the trainees in those realistic battlefield scenarios to help them to understand the effects that has on them mentally and indeed physically and also to prepare them for the battlefield that they'll go back to, minimizing or reducing the amount of time they might hesitate, allowing them to apply the skills and principles we've given them in stressful battlefield environments.

The course aims to teach them to be lethal infantry soldiers. So, as I said, the skills and principles are really important so they understand their role as a soldier on the battlefield and how to fit into larger units. A real focus of the course is fighting ethically, law of armed conflict, and how to fight war ethically. It's incredibly important that we teach that and reinforce it. And I think also, fundamentally, what I hope we give the soldiers is that confidence in those skills and principles.

As I've said, they're incredibly motivated. They have a huge offensive spirit. And we aim to give them the skills and principles and the confidence to go back and fight for Ukraine. So from my personal experience, I think it demonstrates the shared values that nations in NATO and NATO partners have, both in the support to Ukraine and the way we conduct our training. But fundamentally, at a more tactical level, it shows the ability we have to integrate conceptually and physically in terms of the delivering of the training and just working together. Those relationships that we've built within our training and delivery unit are built on years of working and operating together in other operational environments.