Australian troops to train Ukrainian recruits in the UK: Operation Kudu

Australia is stepping up its military assistance to Ukraine by sending elite troops to train new recruits heading into the fight against the Russian invaders.

The main contingent of 70 Australian Defense Force personnel will depart Darwin on Wednesday for the UK, where they will take part in a multinational training programme.

The Albanian government says it will outline more details about the mission in the coming days.

But it is understood that most of those taking part in Operation Kudu are from the 1st Brigade 5 RAR, which is a motorized infantry formation.

The battalion’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Gilmore, the Australians would aim for some 20,000 Ukrainians to be as “combat ready” as possible, as rumors are circulating in intelligence circles that Vladimir Putin is planning a great offensive after winter.

“They are… training recruits in infantry tactics in urban, wooded and basic infantry tactics to better prepare them for possible future conflict,” he told the outlet. abc .

The Australians will be sacked at a ceremony in Darwin on Wednesday, attended by Defense Personnel Minister Matt Keogh.

Keogh stressed that Australian troops will not play a direct role in the conflict, but will “support the brave people of Ukraine and their armed forces.”

The training program also includes staff from the UK, as well as contributions from New Zealand, Canada, Sweden and Finland.

On Monday, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace thanked Australia for taking part in the mission while addressing the UK parliament.

The training contingent adds to the $655 million already offered to Ukraine, $475 million of which is military assistance to help the embattled nation fend off a bloody invasion from Russia.

Rescuers are seen at an apartment building in Dnipro, Ukraine, on January 14, 2023, after it was hit by a Russian missile.

Ukrainian army medics evacuate a wounded soldier on a road not far from Soledar, Donetsk region, on January 14, 2023.

Perhaps the most visible part of that assistance has been the provision of 90 Bushmaster light armored personnel carriers.

Australia has also sent other heavily armored vehicles, anti-armor weapons, mine clearance teams and drones to Ukraine.

It comes as speculation grows that Russia is planning a major offensive when the European snow starts to melt.

Russia is already embarking on a major recruitment drive and analysts believe President Putin will try to beat his way into Ukraine by sheer force of numbers in the spring.

The invading force intensified its missile barrage of Ukrainian cities in recent days as fierce fighting continues around the salt mining town of Soledar.

A nine-story apartment block in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro has been turned into a mountain of bricks and mortar by Russian missile strikes.

Australian soldiers conduct mission training before heading to the UK to help train Ukrainian soldiers.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) has already provided $655 million to Ukraine to help fight Vladimir Putin’s forces (right).

A captured and burned Bushmaster was on display in Moscow during August and Australia sent 90 of the armored vehicles to assist Ukrainian forces.

Rescue teams desperately combed through the rubble for survivors with at least 44 people dead so far.

Regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said the victims included seven children.

The death toll is likely to rise further as dozens of people are still feared trapped under the rubble.

‘They (the Russians) are simply inhuman. At least one ladder is gone. Under the rubble are people who were at home on vacation,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office.

Over the weekend, Moscow also launched a new wave of missile attacks on Kyiv as a series of explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital for the first time since New Year’s Day.