King Charles visits Ukrainian troops being trained by British forces

The King has visited Ukrainian military recruits undergoing training in Wiltshire.

The monarch watched a short defensive training exercise and met some of the recruits training with British and international partner forces, The Telegraph reports.

The five-week mission delivers basic combat training to Ukrainians, who will then return to fight in their country.

The King, accompanied by General Sir Patrick Sanders, the Chief of General Staff, also met other international military personnel who are helping the Army with the Ukrainian recruits.  

He met instructors from 1st Battalion Irish Guards, the UK’s Ranger Regiment, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Lithuania, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland.

British forces began training Ukrainian soldiers in the UK last June, four months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The programme has seen 10,000 Ukrainian troops brought to battle readiness in the past six months and aims to train a further 20,000 this year.

The recruits, who have little or no military experience, are training in techniques such as the use of Javelin surface-to-air missiles and studying different types of Russian vehicles.