British special forces ‘are training local troops in Ukraine’

British special forces have trained local troops in Kyiv for the first time since the war with Russia began, Ukrainian commanders have told The Times.

Officers from two battalions stationed in and around the capital said they had undergone military training, one last week and the other the week before.

Captain Yuriy Myronenko, whose battalion is stationed in Obolon on the northern outskirts of Kyiv, said that military trainers had come to instruct new and returning military recruits to use NLAWs, British-supplied anti-tank missiles that were delivered in February as the invasion was beginning.

The help is reportedly critical for the Ukrainian war effort, as new ­recruits and returning veterans who signed up when the invasion began had no experience with the anti-tank missiles

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL

One Ukrainian special forces commander, who goes by the military nickname “Skiff”, said the 112th battalion, to which his unit was attached, had undergone training last week. The account was