Death of my friend is reason for fighting, says tearful Ukrainian recruit trained in UK

A Ukrainian recruit has explained her heart-breaking reasons for signing up to the Ukrainian military and taking part in UK-led training where recruits learn battlefield skills.

In a video posted to the Ministry of Defence's twitter account, the recruit wipes away her tears as she explains that the death of her friend is what motivated her to join the army and fight.

"When the grief came into my country, I didn't see any other way to protect the Ukrainian nation," the anonymous soldier goes on to say.

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Op Interflex is the UK-led training programme that the MOD says more than 17,000 recruits have now completed.

The training course, based on the one given to UK Army Reserve infantry, is delivered over a minimum of five weeks and it provides troops with:

• Instruction on weapons handling
• Offensive and defensive tactics
• Law of armed conflict awareness
• Range activity and marksmanship
• Patrol techniques
• Medical training (battlefield first aid)
• Force protection when deployed
• Cyber security awareness
• Rural environment training