How UK Government-led Operation Interflex is Training Ukrainian Forces on Lethality, Survivability 

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, over 32,000 Ukrainian recruits have undergone military training since June last year in Operation Interflex, the United Kingdom government-led enduring commitment to support Ukraine in its fight against ‘Russia’s unprovoked’ invasion. With 11 partner nations, Operation Interflex was tailored to train Ukrainian recruits by providing them basic infantry training skills to be deployed at the front lines. Chiemelie Ezeobi, who was recently embedded at the training grounds in the South of England to have first-hand insight of the entire gamut of operation, writes that imbibing survivability and lethality skills were at the core of the training

Nobody wants a war but in the eventuality that happens, patriotic citizens are often ready to give up the life they know to defend the territorial integrity of their nation. 

This scenario has become the lot of the everyday Ukrainian. From the butcher to mothers, construction workers, shop keepers, school teachers, neuroscientists, to florists, their lives as they knew it changed in February 2022 when Russia drew the first salvo by invading a Ukrainian territory to annex it. 

Russian Invasion

Although the Ukrainian invasion started in 2014 with attempts by Russia to annex some parts of Ukraine, the escalation occured on February 24, 2022, when Russia moved 100,000 troops to invade Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Already, the war has claimed tens of thousands of civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of military casualties. 

Also, with about 8.2million Ukrainians internally displaced with some fleeing the war-torn country, this has created Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II and the extensive environmental damage caused by the war has contributed to the global food insecurity crises.

As of April 2023, the Ukrainian government has identified over 19,546 children forcibly transferred by Russian forces to Russia and temporarily Russian-controlled territory in vast numbers. The real number is likely to be much higher (with the highest estimates reaching 150,000).

As of 27 November, just 387 children have been officially returned to Ukraine. This figure stood at 328 on July 11, 2023.

Inflating Global Food Insecurity 

Expectedly, the global food security has been threatened by this ongoing war. Currently, Ukraine has lost about 6m hectares (~24 per cent) of arable land due to occupation, mine contamination and other environmental impacts of war (e.g. destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam).

Prior to the war, Ukrainian grain exports were crucial in ensuring global food security and the resilience of global grain markets. And before Russia’s invasion Ukraine accounted for around 8-10 per cent of global wheat exports and 10-12 per cent  of corn and barley exports.

Russian attacks destroyed over 300,000 tonnes of grain in two months, enough to feed over 1.25 million people for a year. Russia is choosing to take food out of the mouths of the world’s poorest to support its war aims.

Russia has destroyed more grain in the month since withdrawing from the BSGI than all of the grain it has promised to donate for free to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and the Central African Republic combined.

Concerned nations have bemoaned the fact that Russia is choosing to take food out of the mouths of the world’s poorest to support its war aims. Nearly 1 billion people live with severe food insecurity, and regularly do not have enough to eat.

 More than 45 million children under five are currently suffering from acute malnutrition. And over 3bn people across the world are unable to afford a healthy, nutritious diet.

The UK was one of the top six countries in 2022 to provide humanitarian funding to the World Food Programme (over $400 million). Between 2016 and 2021, the UK spent £2.6 billion on longer-term food and agriculture programmes. 

Support of Nations 

Expectedly, the invasion was met with international condemnation including from the United Nations, who demanded a full Russian withdrawal in March 2022. Also, the International Court of Justice ordered Russia to suspend military operations while the Council of Europe expelled Russia.

Not done, many countries imposed sanctions on Russia and any country that supports the invasion. Even the private sector got involved and hundreds closed their operations in Russia to signal their displeasure.

Also, they have provided not just support for Ukraine but also financial backing with most providing equipment and troops.

Operation INTERFLEX 

But beyond this, the UK government, with support of 10 other partner nations, put together Operation Interflex, which is the largest per capita contributor to training support for Ukraine, which focuses on the delivery of lethal and survivable soldiers equipped with the offensive spirit required to win at the battlefield of Ukraine. 

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, over 32,000 Ukrainian recruits have undergone military training since June of that year in Operation Interflex, the United Kingdom government-led enduring commitment to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

With 11 partner nations like United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Romania, Operation Interflex was tailored to train Ukrainian recruits by providing them basic infantry training skills to be deployed at the front lines. 

The five weeks course that runs the gamut of basic infantry courses covers weapon-handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics, the Law of Armed Conflict and other skills needed to be effective in frontline combat.

The recruits are trained for five weeks in five different camps in the UK by military  instructors drawn from partner nations like Australia, New Zealand and others, before returning to Ukraine for immediate deployment to the frontline.

At command centre of Operation Interflex in the South of England, the commander responsible for the training of the Ukrainian infantry soldiers, Colonel James Thurstan, said the programme is designed to equip the Ukrainian recruits with the basics of warfare.

With Operation Interflex as the largest per capita contributor to training support for Ukraine, he said the mission focuses on the delivery of lethal and survivable soldiers equipped with the offensive spirit required to win at the battlefield of Ukraine. 

He said: “The training will give volunteer recruits with little to no military experience, the skills to be effective in frontline combat. The training helps them to be more lethal than their Russian counterparts.

“It allows them to be able to survive long enough in the conflict. It also gives them the defensive spirit to win the war and go ahead to establish the international boundaries.”

The United Kingdom Government’s Holistic Support

For the United Kingdom, which is the second largest military to donate to Ukraine, with a commitment of £2.3 billion in 2022, and a further £2.3 billion in 2023, it became pertinent to provide other kinds of support. 

In October 2023, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced a major new package of equipment support for Ukraine worth over £100 million including air defence systems, crucial equipment to help Ukrainian soldiers cross minefields, and bridging capabilities to assist with river and trench crossings.

The UK is the first country to donate Western main battle tanks by gifting a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks with armoured recovery and repair vehicles, as well as a battery of eight AS90 guns at “high readiness” and a further two batteries at “varying states of readiness.” 

According to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), its government has also gifted clothing and equipment to support Ukrainian soldiers in their training and deployment back to Ukraine. 

After the training, each soldier will be issued with personal protective equipment including helmet, body armour, eye protectors, ear protectors, pelvic protection, and individual first aid kits.

They would also be given field uniform and boots; cold and wet weather clothing; Bergen, day sack and webbing; 

additional equipment required for field conditions including poncho, sleeping bag, and entrenching tools.

Meanwhile, the UK has a long history of supporting Ukrainian service personnel through Operation ORBITAL, which trained 22,000 Ukrainians between 2015 and 2022. 

The programme builds on this success and demonstrates the UK’s continued leadership in responding to Ukraine’s military requirements as the war evolves.

According to the FCDO UK, in addition to Op Interflex the UK has expanded its training operation to include the training of nearly 1,000 Ukrainian marines, by Royal Marine and Army Commandos and supported by international partners.

 The training has also seen British Commandos training Ukraine’s forces in small boat amphibious operations- conducting beach raids using inflatable boats; Combat medical training for Ukrainian soldiers, by trainers from the Royal Army Medical Corps and medical trainers from Iceland and the Netherlands;

 Teaching Ukrainian soldiers how to perform combat medical care under fire;

Mine disposal skills have been delivered to Ukraine’s combat engineers by Royal Engineers of the British Army; Considerable equipment and training to Ukraine has been provided by the UK to improve their ability to clear mines. This has included over 1,500 sets of both vehicle-mounted and ‘on-the-person’ mine clearing and explosive ordnance disposal equipment, including necessary training.

Plans to Out Wait Putin

But what is the intention of the West in the seemingly never ending warfare? In a briefing at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) House in London, the Director General, Russia Ukraine Cabinet Office, Nick Catsaras, said the West has no choice but to out wait President Vladimir Putin in this invasion because the alternative whereby Russia wins wasn’t an option. 

According to him, “this war is one with global consequences. Clearly, the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is a tragedy for Ukraine and a threat to security but the effects of this war are felt round the world in terms of food, energy prices and increased inflation. 

“We are clear that Russia could end this war by withdrawing its troops now. However, there is no sign President Putin is giving up on subjugating Ukraine and he is doing that despite the high cost to Russia in terms of the huge number of casualties that he is suffering and loss of equipment and the long term damage that is being done to Russia’s economy.

“You can feel the resolve on the part of Ukraine to defend and restore its territorial integrity. The allies, especially the UK is committed to support for Ukraine as long as it takes. Our Prime Minister (Rishi Sunak), and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just spoke again this morning about our support.”

While stressing the need for countries and international organisations to intensify pressure on Russia to end the war, the UK government said it would continue to starve Putin of the funds he needs to prosecute his war on Ukraine.

As part of such measures to starve Russia of the needed funds, the UK government alongside its partners, had issued many sanctions against Russia, which had reduced the impact of its war on Ukraine.

Progress for Ukraine 

According to the FCDO, Ukraine has made progress by recapturing almost half of the territory earlier seized by Russia when the conflict began. 

Beyond this, Ukraine made strategic gains at sea by destroying many Russian ships while regaining a part of the Black Sea, which forced Russia to explore a different tactical approach to the war.

To do this, Ukraine successfully pushed back elements of the Russian navy over 300km from Sevastopol and destroyed 13-14 per cent of the Russia’s Black Sea combatant fleet. This has lessened the risk of Russia threatening its coastline.

These efforts have allowed 133 ships to export 5 million tonnes of cargo, including 3.5 million tonnes of grain as of mid-November.

Also, Ukraine’s foreign exchange reserves are at record highs at $39.0bn compared to $29.1bn in Jan 2022.

Hit for Russia

So far, Russia has recorded great loss in this battle. Presently, Russia has lost almost 12,000 pieces of equipment, including 2,268 tanks over 4,000 other armoured vehicles, 247 command and control systems, over 1,000 artillery pieces, almost 200 air defence systems, 85 aircraft and 103 helicopters.

Also, the Russian forces are weakening at a significant rate given that Russia has recorded between 240,000 to 290,000 casualties, which is more than what they suffered in 10 years of Russian occupation of Afghanistan.

According to the Fact Sheet, Russia’s oil export earnings hit the lowest monthly value in June 2023 since the beginning of their invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s oil export revenues fell to EUR 397m per day in June 2023, seven per cent lower than May and 16 per cent below April levels.

Also, £20 billion of UK-Russia bilateral trade (2021 figures) is now under full or partial sanction. There has been a 99 per cent fall in Russian imports into the UK, and a 72 per cent fall in UK exports to Russia. 

Rather than the surplus the Russian Government predicted for 2022, Russia suffered an annual deficit of £47billion – the second highest of the post-Soviet era. Its budget remains in deficit in 2023 despite tax increases.  

Russian oil revenues were down 25 per cent between January and September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, illustrating the cumulative impact of our sanctions on Putin’s ability to wage war. Gazprom’s net income fell 88 per cent over the same period.

Grasping for straws given the huge hit its economy has suffered, Russia was said to have begun making deals with countries which it had previously sanctioned as a member of the United Nations Security Council.

Given all the huge losses Russia has suffered so far and the resolve of the West to out wait him (especially as the alternative would have global consequences), it begs the question; when would President Putin blink and call for a ceasefire before withdrawing his troops? Time they say would tell. 

But summarily, after two days embedded in Operation Interflex, two thing were clear; the commitment of partner nations would remain unflinching while the support by military trainers would continue to be topnotch given their deliverables which is to ensure the survivability and lethality of the Ukrainian soldiers when deployed to the front lines in defence of their nation. 

Quotes

The UK government, with support of 10 other partner nations, put together Operation Interflex, which is the largest per capita contributor to training support for Ukraine, which focuses on the delivery of lethal and survivable soldiers equipped with the offensive spirit required to win at the battlefield of Ukraine

This war is one with global consequences. Clearly, the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is a tragedy for Ukraine and a threat to security but the effects of this war are felt round the world in terms of food, energy prices and increased inflation. We are clear that Russia could end this war by withdrawing its troops now