Australia set to join international effort training Ukrainian troops

Australia is set to become the latest country helping to train Ukrainian troops in the UK, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has announced.

In a post on Twitter, the MOD said Australia would "join the list of countries contributing to the British-led programme to train Ukrainian personnel in the UK".

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace welcomed the announcement, saying he was "delighted" Australia would be joining the eight other partner nations on the programme in 2023.

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"Australia's armed forces are world-class and will bring a wealth of expertise to ensure our Ukrainian friends have the knowledge and skills they need to defend their country," he added in the MOD tweet.

Earlier this month, the Armed Forces and Veterans Minister said more than 6,100 Ukrainian troops have trained in the UK since June 2022.

James Heappey revealed the troops had been trained as part of Operation Interflex, the UK mission to train Ukrainian forces.

Roughly 2,200 troops were trained in June and July, with a further 2,300 trained in August and 1,600 in September – although not all courses for September had been completed.