The US military is currently training Ukrainian troops to operate new howitzers, drones and other NATO-supplied equipment at the Grafenwoehr range in southern Germany, the head of the 7th Army Training Command confirmed on Wednesday.

Brigadier General Joseph Hilbert told reporters that the US military has trained over 20,000 Ukrainian troops over the past seven years, in anticipation of a conflict with Russia.

Grafenwoehr, located in eastern Bavaria, was originally built by Imperial Germany ahead of the First World War. It was expanded by the Wehrmacht in 1938 and used to practice Blitzkrieg tactics. The US military occupied it in 1945 and has operated it ever since.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Hilbert confirmed earlier reports that Florida National Guard troops were training Ukrainians on the new M777 howitzers sent by the US as military aid to Kiev.

The first group, which a Pentagon official on Monday said numbered 170 instructors, has already returned to Ukraine, while another 50-60 are currently completing their training, Hilbert said.

“They understand how to operate it and employ it as effectively as they can on their own and in accordance with their own tactics and their own doctrine,” Hilbert said, referring to the new hardware. He called the Ukrainians who came to Germany for training “absolutely motivated, incredibly professional,” according to comments reported by Bloomberg News.

Hilbert revealed that the US has spent an estimated $126 million over the past seven years to train Ukrainian troops, including building an entire base in western Ukraine for the purpose. Some 23,000 soldiers had been trained inside Ukraine by January 2022, he said.

Source: Russia Today