This week, the fourth rotation of instructors from the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League, who will support the training of Ukrainian Armed Forces in the United Kingdom, started as part of the Interflex training mission.
“Ukraine’s permanent training support in the form of Interflex in cooperation with other countries is extremely important,” said Lieutenant Colonel Margot Künnapuu, the Chief of the Training Department of the General Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces. “At the same time, it’s not just about providing support, Estonian instructors can also gain valuable service experience and develop their skills in an international environment,” added Lieutenant Colonel Künnapuu.
“So far, the standard of Estonian instructors, which also includes volunteer reservists is very high. Our instructors take their work seriously and do their best to ensure that the best trained soldiers reach the battlefield,” said Captain Lauri Mäepalu, who is the Estonian Senior National Representative for training mission Interflex 3rd and 4th rotation. “Both the Ukrainians and the United Kingdom, the initiators of Interflex, highly value Estonian instructors, above all we stand out for our hard work and good instructor skills,” added captain Mäepalu.
The fourth rotation in a row, with up to 30 members, arrived in the United Kingdom this week as part of the Interflex training mission, where Estonian Defence Forces sends instructors from both active duty and reserve forces. On August 20th, both rotations celebrated the Estonia’s Restoration of Independence Day and a ceremony was conducted, during which the responsibilities were exchanged to the newly arrived unit.
Training mission Interflex aims to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel with basic infantry training, which includes activities on the battlefield, weapons training, medicine and shooting skills.
The unit will be on the training mission in the United Kingdom for almost two months and will consist of Estonian Defence Forces active-duty personnel, reservists and Defence League personnel who all have expressed their own desire to participate. Estonian instructors together with Lithuania, Canada and New Zealand form a multinational company (Trident Company), where the latter is also the leading country.
In January of this year, Estonia decided to join the United Kingdom led training mission Interflex, which provides basic military training to new recruits of Armed Forces of Ukraine. The nations contributing to Interflex includes Nordic countries, Baltic States, Australia, New-Zealand, Canada and Kosovo.
