Britain’s King Charles III (C) meets with Ukrainian recruits being trained by British and international partner forces at a site in Wiltshire in south-west England on February 20, 2023. AFP
LONDON — Britain’s King Charles III on Monday went to view Ukrainian soldiers receiving training in trench warfare in southwest England, as Russia’s large-scale invasion of its western neighbor nears the one-year mark.
British forces announced last week that they had reached a target to train 10,000 Ukrainian troops in six months, giving often inexperienced soldiers skills they can use on the front line.
The monarch went to the training site in Wiltshire in central England, where 200 troops are completing five weeks of basic combat training under Tony Harris, an army major from New Zealand.
Charles exchanged a traditional Maori greeting with one of the troops involved, who comes from New Zealand.
The monarch and the burly man in camouflage pressed together their noses and foreheads, a greeting called the hongi.
Charles also watched troops learning how to storm a trench during a gun battle.
He told a senior Ukrainian officer: “You are amazing. I don’t know how you do it. I am full of admiration.”
Harris said he and Charles had talked about the fact that in Ukraine “they’ve returned to trench warfare”, a type of fighting most synonymous with World War I more than a century ago.
“Because of the really stout defense the Ukrainians have put in… the large part of holding the line is digging in and preparing for the worst,” Harris said.
A further 20,000 Ukrainians are set to train in the UK this year.
Charles met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Buckingham Palace when the wartime leader visited London earlier this month.
Zelensky thanked Charles for his “warm welcome and for supporting Ukrainian citizens who have taken refuge from the war”.
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