Foreign instructors who have never fought are teaching the Armed Forces fighters: whether such lessons are effective - the media

The media reminded that since June 2022, Western Allies, under the operation of Interflex, under the leadership of the UK, taught more than 56,000 Ukrainian servicemen. During the exercises, Ukrainian defenders have mastered the skills necessary for survival and struggle in the greatest Land War in Europe since World War II.

Colonel Bordman, the commander of the operation "Interflex", said that the combination of Western military doctrine and Ukrainian combat experience is by no means a drawback, but creates tactics that exceeds the knowledge of each side separately. The newspaper notes that the event has not been in a great war against a powerful, industrialized army for decades.

Most NATO combat experiences were acquired from campaigns against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the Western forces had an advantage in the air and faced smaller, less than equipped opponents. Some Interflex instructors were not even in Iraq or Afghanistan. Bordman says that Ukrainian soldiers are brought to "a lot of valuable military experience". This experience often calls into question the best practices of NATO and leads to adjustments.

For example, during the training of evacuation of wounded, Ukrainians sometimes reject NATO evacuation methods, explaining that in the war in Ukraine it may be safer to wait until dark to move the wounded. In the lessons of the trench war, Ukrainians sometimes correct their instructors on the basis of the tactics they used in battle. This knowledge is then included in learning. "Both parties get lessons from these exercises.

The key lessons learned in Ukraine directly influence the planning of the event, as military throughout Europe is preparing for the possibility of future conflict with Russia. And NATO allies share their skills with Ukraine. For example, Finland provides an interflex. Bordman believes that the experience of Ukraine in the field of drones has been particularly valuable, especially given changes in the operating environment since Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We are not at war now, so we do not develop them at the same rate as Ukrainians," says the commander of the operation "Interflex", Colonel Bordman. He said that Ukraine appreciates the military doctrine of NATO and the West, and the West also sees great value in the lessons of this war and Ukrainian experience. He wants to get useful advice from this war, as many European allies fear that Russia can attack other parts of the continent.

They closely monitor Ukraine to understand what tactics and weapons they need to apply for such a conflict. We will remind that in the fall of 2025 the Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus will conduct more than one military training "West-2025", but as many as six. Among other things, they will train "hybrid" attacks and disrupt communication facilities.