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Australian acting Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles has announced an expansion of training support for Ukraine’s armed forces under Operation Kudu in 2024.
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Australia’s role will be expanded to include a junior leadership training program, focusing on areas such as foundation warfighting skills, including urban and trench warfare, combat first aid, explosive hazard awareness and marksmanship, he said in a statement published on 14 December.
In addition, the number of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members deployed on each rotation will increase to 90 over the next 12 months.
Australia will expand its commitment to the training of recruits from the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of Operation Kudu in 2024, according to the Minister for Defence.
“We are proud to expand Australia’s support for Operation Kudu, a mission that cements international solidarity for Ukraine,” Mr Marles said.
“Our growing commitment to the multinational training mission affirms our pledge to provide meaningful and relevant support to the government and people of Ukraine.”
Australia has previously donated more than $910 million in overall assistance to Ukraine in monetary terms, including $730 million in military support.
In addition, Australian soldiers have helped train more than 1,200 recruits since January as part of the UK-led and -based multinational training mission to support Ukraine’s national defence following Russia’s invasion. The most recent rotation of about 70 ADF instructors returned to Darwin this week.
More than 30,000 Ukrainians have trained to become soldiers since June 2022, supported by personnel from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, the Netherlands and, most recently, Romania.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense announced, on 12 December, an additional security assistance package to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defence needs.
The Biden administration’s 53rd tranche of equipment to be provided from DOD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021 includes additional air defence equipment, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other weaponry worth around US$200 million.
Specific systems to be delivered include AIM-9M air defence missiles, air defence system components, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, high-speed anti-radiation missiles, TOW missiles, Javelin and AT-4 anti-armour systems, obstacle clearing demolitions, more than 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition, equipment to protect critical national infrastructure as well as spare parts, generators, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.
America’s commitment to supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression is unshakable, according to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III.
“Ukraine’s fight for freedom is one of the great causes of our time. And the United States is proud to stand with you. And, make no mistake about it, Ukraine matters profoundly to America’s security and to the trajectory of global security in the 21st century,” Austin said, speaking in Washington earlier this month.
“If we do not stand up to the Kremlin’s aggression today, if we do not deter other would-be aggressors, we will only invite more aggression, more bloodshed and more chaos.”
