In the deepest secrecy, Ukrainian marines have been training in northern Norwegian fjords this summer, together with Norwegian coastal hunters. A Ukrainian operation in particular has attracted attention.
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Ukrainian marines have been training together with Norwegian coastal hunters in northern Norway during the summer. The purpose of the training was to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to recover areas occupied by Russia. The training has focused on fast and covert operations with small rubber boats, to reconnoitre or engage in direct confrontation with the Russian occupiers. The training has been mutually educational. The Ukrainian soldiers have shared their experiences of high-intensity warfare against Russia. This has caused the Coast Guard Command to update its training program for the Norwegian coast guards. Show more
The training will strengthen Ukraine’s ability to regain areas occupied by Russia, which has control over large parts of Ukraine’s coast towards the Black Sea.
A large part of the front line between Russian occupiers and the Ukrainian forces runs along the major rivers in the south and east of Ukraine.
Ukraine wanted to learn more about how to use the rivers to their own advantage, in the war against the Russian occupiers.
– The Ukrainians needed training in carrying out fast and covert operations with small rubber boats, at the front, says the head of the Coast Guard Command, Commander Captain Sten Richard Larsen, to VG.
– The purpose of landing may be to reconnoitre. But there can also be armed actions and direct confrontation with the enemy, he adds.
For five weeks, a group of Ukrainian officers from Ukraine’s naval forces trained together with the Norwegian coastal hunters in Northern Norway.
The navy has now shared photos and video with VG from the training with the Ukrainian marines in Norway.
Attack Crimea from the sea
On the night of August 24 – Ukraine’s Independence Day – marines from Ukraine carried out an operation on Russian-occupied land in Crimea.
Under the cover of night, the soldiers went ashore in western Crimea. There they carried out an action against Russian forces, leaving behind the Ukrainian flag, according to text and images published by Ukrainian intelligence.
“The enemy suffered loss of personnel and enemy equipment was destroyed,” the statement continued.
Ukrainian intelligence also published a video of the attack.
Necessary skills
The symbolic operation was hailed by Ukrainians on social media.
– I don’t know if it was the same people that we had trained, who carried out this raid, says Sten Richard Larsen to VG.
– But we have taught them the necessary skills to be able to perform such operations, he says.
Institute for Study of War (ISW) reported following the operation that several Russian sources dismissed it as insignificant. But other prominent military bloggers are said to have expressed concern that this could show vulnerability in the Russian defense of the Crimean peninsula.
Photo: Kystjegerkommandoen / Sjøforsvaret
Low signature
The images that the Norwegian Navy and the Coast Guard command are now sharing with VG show how small groups of soldiers make their way quickly across water in inflatable boats.
And how they get ashore with the lowest possible signature: how to avoid being seen or heard as they go ashore to reconnoitre, or to carry out attacks or sabotage actions.
The commander of the coastal hunters says that Norway has collaborated with corresponding departments in Great Britain and the Netherlands to support the Ukrainian marines.
– In the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive, Ukraine needs soldiers who are trained for maritime operations. This is expertise that the Coast Guard Command has, and we are therefore happy to be able to contribute what we can, says Larsen.
Photo: Catharina Molland Dale / The Norwegian Navy
Do not care
But current knowledge about military operations has gone both ways throughout the weeks in Norway:
– The Ukrainians have shared a lot of new knowledge with us, about how to conduct high-intensity war in 2023. This has led to us already updating our training program for Norwegian coastal hunters, says Sten Richard Larsen.
– They have communicated what meets Ukraine’s military forces on the battlefield. The short version is that Russia does not care about the rules of war, he says.
Published:
Published: 13.09.23 at 19:15
Updated: 13.09.23 at 19:38
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2023-09-13 17:15:20
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