President Emmanuel Macron has showcased a military instruction program in the country’s northeast
French President Emmanuel Macron meets Ukrainian troops in Grand Est. © X / @EmmanuelMacron
President Emmanuel Macron has shared footage showing French military instructors preparing Ukrainian soldiers for the conflict with Russia.
A 2,300-strong Ukrainian brigade will be equipped by the French military, the president said on Wednesday. The personnel are currently based in the Grand Est region of northeast France.
The program was first announced in June. Some 1,500 French military personnel are involved, according to the government. Macron visited the facility on Wednesday, accompanied by Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov.
After the training is complete, the brigade will be armed with 128 armored vehicles, 18 Caesar artillery guns, 8 AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles, 10 trucks and 20 Milan anti-tank guided missile systems.
The new French-trained brigade has been named ‘Anne of Kiev’ after the daughter of the medieval Prince of Kiev, Yaroslav the Wise, who married French King Henry I in 1051 and ruled France as regent for six years after the monarch’s death.
Meanwhile, the French Air Force is teaching Ukrainian pilots and mechanics to operate Mirage 2000 fighter jets, some of which could be handed over to Kiev as soon as next year.
J’en avais pris l’engagement : nos militaires forment actuellement 2 300 soldats ukrainiens dans le Grand Est, avec des équipements qu’ils utiliseront en mission.La brigade Anne de Kyiv sera formée et équipée grâce à la solidarité de la France. pic.twitter.com/LFwv06LW6b
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 9, 2024
In early 2024, Macron urged NATO allies not to rule out the deployment of their own troops to Ukraine in support of Kiev’s war effort. The idea was largely rejected by other Western nations. The French leader later said he wanted to keep the Russian government guessing about how far the US-led military bloc could go to back the Ukrainians.
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Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is currently touring European nations, and visited France on Thursday. On Saturday, he was supposed to promote his ‘victory plan’ to a group of foreign weapons donors at a gathering at the US Air Base Ramstein in Germany. The meeting was postponed, after US President Joe Biden pulled out to focus on the response to Hurricane Milton.
Ukraine has suffered multiple setbacks on the frontline in recent months, particularly since in August, when it chose to send some of its best-equipped troops to seize territory in Russia’s Kursk Region. Since Thursday, reports have emerged of a major counteroffensive being conducted by Moscow against the invading troops.
Russian officials have described the Ukraine conflict as a US-instigated proxy war, in which Ukrainians are being used as ‘cannon fodder’.