Ukraine to move military trainings underground, Syrskyi says
Amid Russia's deadly attacks on Ukrainian training grounds, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said military training should be moved underground as much as possible to better protect soldiers.
"The entire territory of Ukraine is within range of enemy missiles and drones," Syrskyi said after a monthly meeting on troop preparedness. "The training process must be moved underground as much as possible."
A Russian missile hit a Ground Forces training facility on July 29, prompting Ukraine's military to launch an official investigation. The attack left three people dead and 18 wounded.
A special commission was formed to determine whether lapses by military officials contributed to the casualties.
Earlier, on March 1, a strike by a Russian Iskander-M missile hit a formation exercise in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing and injuring an undisclosed number of Ukrainian troops.
Russian reconnaissance drones had allegedly identified the assembled soldiers before the attack. The incident prompted Syrskyi to suspend two commanders and launch an internal review, while Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal case into the deaths.
Syrskyi emphasized that improving troop training and safety remains a top priority for the Armed Forces. Under a revised training program, Ukraine has extended its basic combat course to 51 days and added new modules on drone warfare, trench survival, and engineering. Earlier, the duration of training was 49 days.
Plans are also underway to expand underground instruction and build new instructor schools with help from the Come Back Alive charity foundation.
"The better trained our soldiers are, the safer they will be, and so will (Ukraine)," Syrskyi said.
