It’s a bleak February morning. Pellets of rain lash down as the sound of gunshots echoes out across the valley. With military escorts, we trudge through the mud, approaching the source of fire.
An officer spots and deals with an upturned helmet on the hood of a 4x4. “Rule number one,” he exclaims – “keep your equipment dry!”
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Ahead of us, several sections of experienced Ukrainian troops clutching AR-M9F assault rifles are preparing to storm an enemy trench. Others watch on from the rear as their fellow soldiers army-crawl over the barren terrain, toss projectiles and launch their attack.
It could be a scene today from anywhere along Ukraine’s 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) front line. Here, we watch it play out in a remote location in northern England as Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) personnel train in the aggressive tactics of trench warfare.
Welcome to Operation Interflex – codename for the UK’s flagship training program for Ukrainian troops.
Launched in June 2022 by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), Operation Interflex is delivered in partnership with 12 other nations – Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Kosovo, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden and New Zealand.
The program accounts for around a third of the international training support delivered by the Security Assistance Group for Ukraine (SAG-U). Over 51,000 recruits from the AFU have been trained to date as part of the program at several MoD sites across Britain and 1,000 UK service personnel are deployed to run it.
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Key features of Operation Interflex training
Set to run until at least the end of 2025, Operation Interflex training aims to be flexible, scalable, credible and repeatable, providing the fundamental skills needed for AFU personnel on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Courses are separately tailored for new recruits, instructors and section/platoon leaders alike, with content organized in close collaboration with the AFU. Until this year, a single training course lasted 35 days but has now been extended to 45-50 days to allow soldiers more time to perfect the vital drills and skills, reflect and consolidate.
A strategic focus of Operation Interflex is on depth and quality of training. Ukraine knows it cannot match the sheer volume of conscripts that Russia is willing to pour into Ukraine as cannon fodder, so the strategy of out-skilling them is deliberate.
Chief Instructor, Lieutenant Henderson, manages the training delivery teams and liaises closely with international partners.
“Here at TDU [Training Delivery Unit] three, we work closely with our Dutch and Norwegian partners who are brilliant,” the lieutenant says. “They each bring their own elements which means we can learn something from each of them and build a well-rounded training program.”
Shared expertise and dissemination of learning across the TDUs is vital given that training needs to continuously evolve to incorporate lessons from the changing battlefield and from Russia’s tactics. For example, drone training is now a crucial element of the program, such as simulating a defensive response to a chemical weapons drop by the enemy.
“Our Dutch partners have brought especially strong skills in drone operations,” Lieutenant Henderson adds.
Hundreds of AFU troops undergo training as part of Operation Interflex at any one time. Each recruit receives a kit allocation worth £4,500 ($5,600) including body armor, a fully stocked battlefield first-aid kit and winter combat clothing. These are topped up with additional items before personnel are deployed back to Ukraine.
NATO standard instructor training
“What should I do? Protect my family with only a shovel, or take a weapon and protect my family and my motherland?”
One Ukrainian solder going by the call sign “Athlete” had several years’ experience of serving in the AFU during the 2010s, and in civilian life was a professional sportsman. He re-joined the AFU on day one of Russia’s full-scale invasion which meant leaving his athletics career behind. Now he’s ready to be an army instructor.
For “Athlete,” Operation Interflex provides an opportunity for Ukrainian soldiers to train in calm conditions and build a basic knowledge to take back to Ukraine: “We share in the experience of foreigners, so we learn something from them, and they learn from us,” he says.
That doesn’t come without challenges, as “Athlete” acknowledges: “Sometimes we have disagreements with the [UK and partner] instructors, but eventually we reach a common view on how we should conduct instructor training.” However, compared with the challenges Ukraine is enduring on its own soil, he makes clear that “any challenges as part of Operation Interflex can hardly be called challenges at all.”
Another AFU recruit, nicknamed Liutyi – meaning fearsome – is originally from central Ukraine and was a rescue diver before joining the AFU voluntarily in the wake of Russia’s full-scale assault. For Liutyi, joining from an emergency service occupation helped to make the adaptation process easier, but at that point he hadn’t had any formal military training.
“I couldn’t wait for the Russians to come to my home and family,” he says. “So, what should I do? Protect my family with only a shovel, or take a weapon and protect my family and my motherland?”
This is Liutyi’s third time training in the UK as part of Operation Interflex, each time at a different base. For him, the skills imparted by foreign allies has been hugely valuable.
“I’ve worked with many other nations, currently with Dutch trainers,” he says. “The way they work – to a NATO standard – is really interesting, and I can use all of this training back home to help train and instruct others.” He adds: “I’ve seen increasing time allocated to field, tactical and drone exercises, which is what we need in Ukraine right now.”
Survival skills
As we huddle in the back of our jeep, we’re escorted to the second location of the day. Shrouded by woodland, we prepare to meet the newest recruits of Operation Interflex in their first days of infantry training. The objective – field survival – where soldiers learn such skills as how to survive in a forest, basic firing and foxhole digging.
Chief of Staff at TDU 3, Major Moyle, is responsible for ensuring that training is achieving its intended outcomes.
“Operation Interflex is known for being a thorough and effective training program” he tells Kyiv Post. “Anecdotal evidence suggests that units trained on the program perform much better on the battlefield… they want to return again for additional training because they know it’s professional.”
However, it’s not always easy for some of the newest recruits, as Major Moyle recalls: “One of our trainees was really struggling with weapons handling, so a Norwegian instructor provided additional in-depth one-to-one support in the evenings. When the trainee got to the ranges, they were well prepared and became the top shot in the platoon for two days running. So, the passion and professionalism of the instructors makes a huge difference.”
For Lieutenant Henderson, seeing the trainees arrive can be emotional given the conditions and hardships they have endured back home.
“Ukrainians’ willingness to learn and their offensive spirit is the same now as at the beginning of the program,” he says.
One of the newest recruits, Vladyslav, joined the AFU in January 2025. Until last year, he was working in a café in his native town in southern Ukraine, but he decided to sign up when he saw how close the Russians were coming.
“It’s one thing to learn about military life online and in videos, but it’s another to become part of it. At first, I was nervous, but when I joined the unit and became part of the team, I felt much better,” he recalls.
When the training began, Vladyslav found it tough adapting to the strict rhythm and discipline, but he’s now used to it: “Thanks to the UK, we have a place to live, access to equipment and supplies, access to first class instructors, and the opportunity to practice.”
Vladyslav awaits Ukraine’s victory and the return of peaceful blue skies. He eventually plans to return to the café where he worked but is also open to prolonging his military contract with the AFU.
Building clearance operations
“The recruits are tough considering many have just come from civilian life.”
In our third and final visit, we’re escorted to a special site comprising numerous full-scale brick buildings, where Ukrainian troops are undergoing training in building clearance. Moving from “house to house,” the recruits are tasked with inspecting and removing any potential security threats or hazardous materials.
According to Lieutenant Henderson, building clearance techniques are a particular strength of the program’s Norwegian partners. It’s here we meet the Commander of Norwegian Company A, whose role is to oversee the skills and standards of other program trainers.
“As part of Operation Interflex, we work closely with Ukrainian commanders to ensure that everything that goes into delivering a good soldier is taken care of. This extends to many things you don’t typically see, from hygiene in the barracks to keeping kit clean,” the Norwegian commander says.
In his experience, Ukrainian recruits are highly motivated and learn quickly: “They’re tough considering many have just come from civilian life. They can absorb things quickly and withstand the rigor… it means we can adjust the training based on what we know they can already handle.”
But are there any observable differences in the attitudes of volunteer recruits compared with conscripts? The Norwegian commander doesn’t think so: “We’re aware of how individuals have ended up at Interflex, but feedback tells us that motivation levels are high irrespective of whether they’re volunteers or conscripts.”
Privilege
“It’s one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life.”
The UK has a long history of supporting Ukrainian service personnel. Operation ORBITAL trained 22,000 Ukrainians between 2015 and 2022. Today, and in addition to Operation Interflex, the UK has expanded training operations to include combat mental health first aid, marine training, performing combat medical care under fire, and mine disposal training.
Echoing the views of AFU recruits, Major Moyle describes the privilege he feels supporting Ukraine and working with other partner nations. And despite changes in the geo-political world, particularly the change of US administration, the major is keen to point out how all partners “remain firmly committed to Operation Interflex.”
For the Norwegian commander, every day is a new adventure, focused around a clear and common goal to deliver the best possible training: “That’s assisted by close coordination between partners, as well as open and honest communication which sets everyone in the right direction,” he tells Kyiv Post.
The Norwegian commander concludes by describing Operation Interflex as “one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life.” At that point, he recalls a quotation from a 1951 Norwegian instructor’s manual, translated from an earlier British manual “The Principles and Practice of Good Instruction – Part 1”:
“A good instructor is a combination of the best qualities of a salesman, a football coach, a business manager, a school teacher, a revivalist preacher, an actor, a father, a soldier, and a friend.”
With such knowledge, passion and strong partnership working among the trainers, combined with the value placed on the quality of training by AFU recruits, it is clear that Operation Interflex is making an important difference in bolstering Ukraine’s on-going fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal full-scale invasion.
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