Lithuanian Armed Forces Starts Training Ukrainian Troops to Use Guided Missile

Lithuanian Armed Forces has already started training the first group of Ukrainian troops to use anti-tank and anti-aircraft guided missile. The Lithuanian Armed Forces do not disclose the exact number of Ukrainian soldiers undergoing training in Lithuania. The Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported that Lithuania has been conducting such training in both Ukraine and Lithuania since 2015. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania, like other NATO countries, withdrew its trainers from the country.

Military training for Ukrainian troops will be organised in Lithuania shortly. To achieve maximum effect, Lithuanian Armed Forces will soon organise military training for Ukrainian troops here in Lithuania. Lithuanian are ready to train their instructors to prepare them to work with the military equipment, machinery, or weapons that Armed Forces operate. Lithuanian Armed Forces will train most of them with anti-tank weapons. Only Lithuanian instructors will train them. It has not been organised as NATO training.

On February 15 a team of military service members with the Lithuanian Armed Forces Air Defence Battalion left for Ukraine. They train their Ukrainian colleagues to master the Stinger short-range air defence systems transferred by Lithuania. The consignment of Stinger systems was flown to Ukraine from Šiauliai Air Base of the Lithuanian Armed Forces on February 13. The transfer of weaponry systems, used by the Lithuanian Armed Forces to that point, was enabled by the consent of the U.S. Government to hand over U.S.-made equipment to a third state.

The US also has been building up its military presence on the eastern flank since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Americans plan to deploy a total of 400 additional troops, as well as short-range air defence and self-propelled artillery systems, in Lithuania. They have also deployed F-35 fighter jets at Šiauliai Air Base, and troops from the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) are serving in Lithuania. US troops serve in Lithuania on a rotational basis, but the country’s politicians are seeking a permanent American presence.