More than 17,000 Ukrainian soldiers were trained over the course of a year thanks to a program led by Britain as part of its support for Kyiv after the Russian invasion, the British Ministry of Defence announced.

The program, which addressed recruits with little or no military experience, consisted of providing at least five weeks’ training in arms handling, first aid, the law of war, and patrol tactics.

The training program involves Britain, as well as the Armed Forces of nine other countries: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, and the Netherlands.

Britain, which has supported Ukraine since the start of the war, had initially proposed training 10,000 soldiers at a British military base. This program has been expanded and 30,000 recruits are expected to be trained by 2024.

The British Ministry of Defence said intelligence services had identified evidence that the program, dubbed Operation Interflex, contributed significantly to the effectiveness of the Ukrainian military.

London was also the first country to offer heavy battle tanks to Kyiv and has advocated the delivery of warplanes to Ukraine.

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