RT.com
06 Aug 2022, 04:13 GMT+10
Kiev's forces lack the skills to handle Western weapons, army veterans-turned-trainers have told the paper
Ukrainian recruits fighting in Donbass are undergoing ten-day intensive training courses led by a group of Western ex-military personnel calling themselves the Mozart Group, The Guardian reported on Friday.
Group members told the paper Ukrainian recruits' training and combat experience was lacking to the point where weapons supplied by the West were largely going to waste.
The company was founded by Andy Milburn, a retired American Marine Corps colonel, who served with the US military for 31 years, and according to The Guardian is mostly funded by "private US donors." The group also includes other "carefully vetted" Western army veterans from the US, the UK, Ireland, and elsewhere.
The Mozart Group delivers intensive crash courses for Ukrainian soldiers lasting between five and ten days, The Guardian said. The courses involve "basic weapon handling, marksmanship, fire and maneuver and battlefield tactics," the paper reported, adding that this type of training would normally take six months.
The training seems to give Ukrainian soldiers a significant boost, according to the company instructors. "Only one out of this group of 40 had zeroed his weapon before the training started," Milburn said. Zeroing a weapon means aligning the sights so that one can aim accurately and is considered to be one of the basics of military training.
The Western instructors also criticized Ukraine's approach to training and mobilization by calling it "backwards." "This is what it must have been like in World War One," a company member identified only as Alex said.
Another member of the Mozart Group, a former advanced paramedic from Ireland identified as Dathan, said that "the Ukrainian government doesn't want to say that most of their military isn't really trained."
According to the group, weapons supplied to Ukraine by Washington and its allies since the start of the conflict between Kiev and Moscow in February are simply not being used correctly due to the lack of experience on the Ukrainian side.
The US-made Javelin portable anti-tank missile systems worth $178,000 each are "misused" or "redundant," The Guardian said, citing Alex, who argued that the systems' sophisticated sight batteries are running out before the missiles themselves are fired. "They are not getting the training they need," Alex, who claimed to have specialized training in using Javelins and the UK-made NLAW missile systems, said.
Since the start of the military conflict with Russia in February, Western backers supplied Kiev with portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, as well as heavier weapons like German PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers and the US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. In July, US media outlets reported that the diversity of the arms had been creating problems for the Ukrainian military due to their complicated logistics, training, and maintenance.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Europe Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Europe Sun.
More InformationLANSING, Michigan: Michigan's Department of Natural Resources said by a wildfire in the state has burned through more than 3 ...
ISTANBUL, Turkey: In an interview with Reuters, Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, (IATA), said airlines are ...
SACRAMENTO, California: Sixteen migrants from Venezuela and Colombia, who had entered the United States through Texas, were transported to California ...
GRAND ISLE STATE PARK, Louisiana: Almost two years after Hurricane Ida struck the barrier island and destroyed most of its ...
YANGON, Myanmar - A regime court sentenced to death five people detained for their alleged involvement in a deadly August ...
HARTFORD, Connecticut: Following a state Senate debate and vote to approve Connecticut's most comprehensive gun legislation since the laws put ...
LISBON, Portugal: Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive of Lufthansa, has said that as Portugal's government is still debating whether to sell ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks were divided on Wednesday, with the technology and industrial sectors parting ways.Tech stocks ...
HOLLYWOOD, California: More than tripling the debut of its 2018 animated original predecessor, Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" opened ...
PARIS, France: European plane manufacturer Airbus is reported to be close to a record agreement to sell 500 narrow-body jets ...
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan: DuPont, Chemours and Corteva have reached an agreement to pay $1.18 billion to resolve complaints of causing ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks were directionless Tuesday as investors had little to digest ahead of next week's ...