Russian forces cannot cope if Ukrainians fight like a Nato army, Defence Secretary says
The Defence Secretary says Russian forces in Ukraine will not be able to cope if Ukrainian troops can be trained to fight like a Nato army.
Ben Wallace spoke to Forces News at Bovington Camp in Dorset where he met with Ukrainian troops learning to operate British Challenger 2 tanks which are being donated to Ukraine.
But Mr Wallace insisted it's not just all about learning to drive tanks and believes Ukraine's key to success in pushing Russian forces back will be by using Western military tactics, which he says the invading forces have not been trained to counter.
He said: "If we can get the Ukrainians to fight like a Nato army, then I am very confident that Russia will find it even harder going in Ukraine and will be pushed back.
"It's all about how you can weave that tank in with armoured infantry and fight a battle in what we call Combined Arms Manoeuvre," he said, adding that the Russian military will find it very hard to counter because "Soviet doctrine didn't really do it in that way and now the Russians are struggling".
After being driven by a Ukrainian soldier conducting tank training in Dorset, Mr Wallace said: "You can see their dedication, they are determined and their work ethos is extraordinary, they are here to do a job which is to train with us to get back into the battle as soon as they can."
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