Last Wednesday, October 9, French Head of State Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by Roustem Oumerov, Ukrainian Minister of Defense, visited, for the first time, Ukrainian soldiers trained in France. This is all the more a first as it involves the formation of an entire combined arms brigade, i.e. 2,300 men. To date, no European country had formed a combat unit of this size.
A brigade named “Anne de kyiv” after the name of an 11th century French queen, to remind us that Paris is shouldering its share of the effort, because, to date, none of the countries supporting theUkraine has formed such a large unit, underlines General Damien Wallaert, deputy head of land operations: “ We form a combined arms brigade whose core is made up of an infantry battalion but which is also made up of its supports and supports, that is to say its functions, engineering, artillery, drones, ground-air defense, but also logistics. Resupply, how do we bring ammunition, food and what the combatants need as close as possible to the front… So it’s this whole truly global and integrated approach to the training of the brigade that we are proposing to our Ukrainian partner. »
Many young soldiers in the ranks
In total, 2,300 soldiers arrived at the beginning of October, some are seasoned, others less so, notes Colonel Guillaume Vancina responsible for this training, “ The profiles are very varied, a large number are conscripts. There are also volunteers since there is a mobilization law which is in progress in Ukraine and which concerns all young people. There is also a small percentage of veterans. When we talk to the head of this brigade, who is a career officer, he points out that he has been at war since 2014! Afterwards you have a lot of young people since it is a brigade which is being trained, so a lot of new people in the ranks “.
The soldiers will return to Ukraine at the beginning of December, with equipment provided by the French army
Brigade No. 155, fully equipped and equipped with 128 armored personnel carriers, 18 Caesar cannons, 18 AMX 10 RC light tanks, and logistics vehicles. The training is quick: only two months, but it is heavy for the French army which dedicates 1,500 specialists to it, a guarantee of efficiency. “ What is striking at first contact is that they arrive in a country at peace, there is a stress which immediately fades away. That’s a very important aspect and one that I think gives them peace of mind in their work. », indicates Colonel Guillaume Vancina, “ First of all, there is a whole bag, as they say, to acquire and which will take a little time. So no, we don’t immediately plunge into a combat atmosphere from the first week, but it will come very quickly. We will accustom them to the sound of combat using simulation devices that exist in the army. Then the partner is very demanding. He’s at war, he’s asking for everything he can “.
To train we had to dig the same trenches as in Ukraine
We must therefore adhere to the standards of war and the tactics of the Ukrainians, insists General Wallaert: “For this, we dug more than 600 meters of trenches and buried combat posts. We took into account the indications they gave us on the reality in terms of size, dimension, depth, of the trenches they dig in Ukraine, so that they can train in the closest conditions. of reality. The second point is the permanent and omnipresent use of drones. They are used on a daily basis during training, so either in support or the drones are used to threaten them. Here again, it is a question of placing them in conditions as close to reality in terms of noise, stress, fatigue and so that it is as realistic as possible, so that on the big day, they have the best reflexes, that they survive the battle and achieve victory “.
A unique object, the result of an ambition, the 155th brigade aims to regenerate as quickly as possible the Ukrainian army, very tested by almost three years of war.