Ukrainian soldiers being trained by British forces to help them in their fight against Vladimir Putin’s forces have arrived in the UK.

The first cohort in the UK-led military programme met with defence secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday as they started a training programme which is expected to last several weeks, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

The initiative will see as many as 10,000 Ukrainians receive training over the coming months.

Mr Wallace said: ‘This ambitious new training programme is the next phase in the UK’s support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.

‘Using the world-class expertise of the British Army we will help Ukraine to rebuild its forces and scale-up its resistance as they defend their country’s sovereignty and their right to choose their own future.’

Around 1,050 UK service personnel are being deployed to run the programme, which will take place at MoD sites across the north west, south west and south east of the UK.

The training, which is based on the UK’s basic soldier training, will give volunteer recruits with little to no military experience the skills to be effective in frontline combat.

The course will cover weapons handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics and the Law of Armed Conflict.

The government has procured AK variant assault rifles for the training programme, so Ukrainian soldiers will be able to train with the weapons they will be using on the front line.

This was supported by the Welsh Guards, who tested more than 2,400 such rifles in 17 days to ensure they were ready for the Ukrainians to commence their training.

The UK has also gifted clothing and equipment to support Ukrainian soldiers in their training and deployment back to Ukraine.

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