Drones drop water bombs as Britain trains Ukrainians for changed war

Field in East Anglia becomes front line to prepare troops against evolving threats from Putin’s forces

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In a field at a secret location, dozens of armed Ukrainian soldiers are running through billowing smoke and trying to escape the attention of drones buzzing overhead.
The scene is an adrenalin-fuelled theatre of the war – but, on this occasion, it is manufactured.
The field is in East Anglia, not Kursk, and the drones are dropping water balloons, not explosives. Rubber bullets are fired instead of the real thing and the day will end without a single casualty.
This is how Britain prepares Ukrainian troops for the front line – and has been doing so since a formal training scheme was introduced in June 2022.
But more than 1,000 days into the conflict, the nature of the battlefield preparations has changed significantly – along with the mindset of those benefiting from the experience.
Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), for example, are currently taking centre stage ahead of deployment in Ukraine, which one senior British commander describes as a “laboratory for the evolving character of war in a conflict”.
The Ukrainian recruits, who have travelled to the UK for up to 10 weeks, face a far harder task than those who first embarked on the scheme two years ago.
Then, victory seemed possible; now, a total defeat of Russia seems far more difficult to envisage.
With the number of Ukrainians and Russians killed or wounded reported to have reached about one million, Vladimir Putin’s war of attrition has shown that the only certainty is a mounting death toll.
However, British soldiers such as Lt Col Rob Smith, the commanding officer of 3 SCOTS – the division currently training the Ukrainians as part of Operation Interflex – try to remain positive, for the sake of the men and women they train.
The wargame situations in both trenches and built-up urban areas are based on real-world battles, including the Russian oppression of Mariupol in the early days of the invasion, covering how the war is fought in both civilian areas and at the front lines.
The British military also takes its lead from defence intelligence, which informs how the fighting is changing in Ukraine on both sides, to keep the lessons as timely as possible.
Lt Col Smith admitted he has to stop himself from getting too attached to these men and women after spending so many hours preparing them for the battlefield.
“Because we care and because that sense of purpose is pretty palpable, it is understandable as human beings that people care about the people they are training, knowing that they are going to go fight a war of national survival,” he said.
The recruits experience a combination of basic infantry, command and leadership training before eventually returning to Ukraine and a front line that is becoming bloodier by the day.
As the war approaches the three-year mark, morale among troops is being tested, which is why a visit on Tuesday from Gen Valery Zaluzhny, the former top general who now serves as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, was welcomed by the soldiers of Operation Interflex.
Yet his message to the brave Ukrainians before him was brutal: he stated that many of them, who have trained so hard to defend their country, will die doing so.
“We have only one Ukraine,” he said. “No one will defend it except us. Remember that war is becoming more cruel every day. It leaves almost no chance of survival.”
Gen Zaluzhny urged the soldiers to use their training in the UK to “learn not to be afraid of death”.
He added: “Kill without hesitation. When you see the enemy, kill him before he tries to kill you or your comrade. Please learn this here. Love each other. And remember Ukraine. If you are gone, maybe someone else will take your place, but Ukraine must be preserved.”
Upon finishing his speech, a resounding chorus of Heroiam Slava (Glory to the heroes) echoed across the woodland, before Gen Zaluzhny began fist-bumping his comrades and posing for selfies.
“We like him, he is like our father for us,” said Arthur, 31, who cannot give his full name for security reasons, and has been serving with Ukraine’s army for two and a half years.
“He leads us. He represents calm. We fight not with aggression, we fight with calm, because behind us we have our families. It’s not because we want war, it’s because we have to.”
Luke Pollard, the minister for the Armed Forces, who also visited the troops of Operation Interflex, insisted that the West was not scared by Russia’s new law that permits a nuclear response if attacked by Western long-range missiles.
“Since the start of the war, Putin has been making threats, not just to Ukraine,” Mr Pollard said.
“Putin’s threats are designed to put us off in our support for Ukraine. They are designed to weaken our resolve and we are showing strong resolve in return.
“What I’ve seen today is amazing Ukrainian troops being trained. When they return back to Ukraine, they’ll be on the front line. They’ll be facing not just training bullets and water balloons being dropped by drones, but hand grenades being dropped by drones.
“That is the resolve that I’ve seen today that helps steal me, as a minister, to make sure that our resolve as a government is as strong as it can be.
“That’s what the Prime Minister set out to support Ukraine for as long as it takes with military aid, kit, equipment and training and the bravery of the Ukrainians in seeing today is a reminder of just how serious this situation is.
“How escalatory actions by Russia carry real consequences.”
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