BOOT CHAMPS
Hundreds of Ukrainian recruits start training in Britain to help fight back against Russians
HUNDREDS of raw recruits from Ukraine have started Boot Camp in Britain — so they can fight back against the Russians.
The UK has pledged to train 10,000 volunteers with no military experience in four months.
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The first batch arrived last week and are already blasting Kalashnikov rounds at secret beauty spot ranges.
They narrowly escaped an air attack days before they left.
A Ukrainian army instructor, who asked not to be named, said: “We think the Russian military knew we were preparing to come here.”
Troops from the UK’s 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade are delivering a six-month basic infantry course in just a few weeks.
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Lt Joe Coombs, 24, from 3 Rifles regiment, said: “The two over- arching themes are training them to stay alive and training them how to kill.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said hundreds more, aged 18 to 55, were arriving every day.
There is space for 2,400 in four secret locations in the North and South of England.
He said at one in the North West: “Training matters.
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"When you’re in a war against Russia, you need to make sure you can be as best as you can be.”
Up to 200 Ukrainian soldiers a day are being killed in action, with around 1,000 injured, in a war which has raged since February.
Volunteers who signed up to fight are all civilians, and being trained 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
Afghan war vet Sgt Dan Hayes said: “It was quite heartbreaking.
"All the guys were lorry drivers or they worked in quarries or they were shopkeepers.
"We asked them what their hobbies were and they said things like barbecues with their families or hanging out with their children.
“It really hit home how important this task is.”
One recruit, a former e-commerce manager, 34, told The Sun: “A few months ago I was sitting in my office relaxed, drinking some coffee.
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But everything changed on Feb 24.”
The dad of one added: “It is a really important opportunity for us to get the necessary skills to fight and defend our country.”
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