Soldiers with the Lithuanian Grand Duchess Birutė Uhlan Battalion, Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf, are replaced in the training mission in Ukraine by soldiers with the National Defence Volunteer Force (NDVF).
On April 6 NDVF Commander Colonel Arturas Jasinskas farewelled the departing rotation at the NDVF Darius and Girėnas Territorial Unit. "You are professionals, therefore I trust that the knowledge and skills you will transfer will allow saving numerous Ukrainian soldiers' lives," he said at the ceremony.
It is the third rotation of military instructors deployed to the training mission in Ukraine, formed by professional and volunteer soldiers of the National Defence Volunteer Force.
The 12-strong NDVF instructors group will serve in Ukraine until the end of June. They will be training Ukrainian soldiers together with US, Canadian, Polish, and British, colleagues at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre.
The NDVF troops will help training personnel, snipers and sharpshooters, automatic grenade launchers specialists and infantry platoons of the 3rd Battalion, 80th Assault brigade, Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Instructors of the Lithuanian Armed Forces have been contributing to the training of Ukrainian soldiers since August 2015. The military mission in Ukraine was launched to deliver training to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Lithuanian soldiers do not take part in combat actions of the Antiterrorist Operation (ATO) in Eastern Ukraine.
Continuous cooperation with Ukraine remains among tops priorities of Lithuania's foreign and security policy: Lithuania Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, helps it in achieving the set goals in complying with NATO standards, and contributes to strengthening its defence capabilities.
On 1 July 2017 Lithuania's launched a Military Training Mission in Ukraine that can comprise up to 60 Lithuanian military instructors.
Aside from Ukraine, Lithuanian soldiers are currently serving in multinational operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, Central African Republic, Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean, in total, roughly 120 soldiers.
Photo credit: Pte 1st Class Michail Lysenko
