Posted on Mar 27, 2023
Foreign volunteers race to train new Ukrainian troops to be sent to the front
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https://www.npr.org/2023/03/27/ [login to see] /russia-ukraine-war-foreign-veterans-train-ukrainian-soldiers
Magnus Ek, 53, a retired Swedish lieutenant, is teaching a group of Ukrainian conscripts how to fire an AK-47 in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. Ek, who spent a decade as an instructor in Sweden, is among a group of foreign military volunteers who have gone to train Ukrainians how defend their country from Russia's invasion.
"You will find yourself in many strange shooting positions," Ek says, as he tromps around the snow-covered firing range where the temperatures hover around 16 degrees.
"So funny, so funny," says one of his students, a Ukrainian conscript.
Ek, who has served as a volunteer military trainer for months in Ukraine, uses physical comedy to hold the attention of his students. The situation, however, is not a joke.
He is teaching a group of 15 conscripts who were assigned to Ukraine's Border Force a week earlier. Most have no experience with weapons and Ek has only a few hours to expose them to as much as he can. He won't even have the opportunity to show them something basic: how to adjust the sights of their rifles so they can aim accurately.
Magnus Ek, 53, a retired Swedish lieutenant, is teaching a group of Ukrainian conscripts how to fire an AK-47 in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. Ek, who spent a decade as an instructor in Sweden, is among a group of foreign military volunteers who have gone to train Ukrainians how defend their country from Russia's invasion.
"You will find yourself in many strange shooting positions," Ek says, as he tromps around the snow-covered firing range where the temperatures hover around 16 degrees.
"So funny, so funny," says one of his students, a Ukrainian conscript.
Ek, who has served as a volunteer military trainer for months in Ukraine, uses physical comedy to hold the attention of his students. The situation, however, is not a joke.
He is teaching a group of 15 conscripts who were assigned to Ukraine's Border Force a week earlier. Most have no experience with weapons and Ek has only a few hours to expose them to as much as he can. He won't even have the opportunity to show them something basic: how to adjust the sights of their rifles so they can aim accurately.
Foreign volunteers race to train new Ukrainian troops to be sent to the front
Posted from npr.org
Russia
Ukraine
Training
Posted 1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Do not apply pressure," she warns. Instead, she says, wrap the wound to keep the bandage in place, and, if some intestines come out, don't push them back inside.
Taylor was scheduled to return home in January, but she continues to delay. She says her training is paying off. One soldier she trained told her he was able to use what he'd learned to treat a fellow soldier who had suffered a head wound and another who had lost half his hand.
"He just walked in the door and gave me a massive hug and said that he was able to use those skills ... to rescue these two guys," Taylor recalls. "That just made it all worth it."
...""Do not apply pressure," she warns. Instead, she says, wrap the wound to keep the bandage in place, and, if some intestines come out, don't push them back inside.
Taylor was scheduled to return home in January, but she continues to delay. She says her training is paying off. One soldier she trained told her he was able to use what he'd learned to treat a fellow soldier who had suffered a head wound and another who had lost half his hand.
"He just walked in the door and gave me a massive hug and said that he was able to use those skills ... to rescue these two guys," Taylor recalls. "That just made it all worth it."
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TMG's breakup is tragic. We did good work, and I'm glad others are still doing it.
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