Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that he had signed documents allowing French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres in the near future, according to Reuters.
Earlier, Syrskyi held talks via video link with French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
I am pleased to welcome France’s initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen. I have already signed the documents that will enable the first French instructors to visit our training centres shortly and familiarise themselves with their infrastructure and personnel.
Syrskyi then noted that France’s commitment would encourage other partners to join this “ambitious project.” The Ukrainian Defence Ministry also reported that Kyiv has expressed interest in a project to receive foreign instructors since February.
As of now, we are still in discussions with France and other countries on this issue.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about sending troops to Ukraine at a conference in Paris in February. There, he suggested that allied troops could help by training Ukrainians in Ukraine. Commenting on the move to send French military instructors, France’s defence ministry stated:
As already mentioned several times, training on Ukrainian soil is one of the projects discussed since the conference on support for Ukraine convened by the President of the Republic on February 26. Like all the projects discussed at that time, this track continues to be the subject of work with the Ukrainians, in particular to understand their exact needs.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s recent law on mobilisation expanded the powers of recruitment agencies and allowed them to tighten measures to catch conscripts. Now, Ukrainian men are even afraid to go out on the street, with citizens massively posting images of empty shopping centres and streets on social media.
On May 18, Ukraine passed a law on toughening the rules of mobilisation. According to the new regulations, employees of territorial conscription centres will be able to issue conscription papers to Ukrainians round the clock.
The document on conscription will be issued to the persons liable for military service at the place of residence, work, study, in public places, public buildings, places of mass gathering of people, at checkpoints and border crossing points.
Refusal to appear at a military enlistment office or to use online services to update data about oneself may result in administrative liability. Moreover, the absence of a military card can be a reason for detention on the street.
