After Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Denmark, in close cooperation with allies and partners, has taken on a great deal of responsibility for supporting Ukraine.

 

As part of the overall support, Denmark is contributing 65 Danish soldiers to a British-led training project, which will be carried out in the UK during autumn 2022, where Ukrainian recruits will be trained in basic soldiering skills. The 65 soldiers have been appointed broadly among units from all over the Danish Defence. The Army, among other things, has appointed the leading personnel.

 

The armed forces are also collaborating with the Ukrainian authorities to set up training courses for commanders, mine clearance, etc. in Denmark.

 

From May 2023, Danish instructors are participating in training Ukrainian tank crews on Leopard 1A5 tanks in Germany. During the summer and autumn of 2023, the soldiers have trained on the 80 refurbished tanks.

 

In the summer of 2023, the Armed Forces began the training of more than 70 Ukrainian pilots, technical personnel and support personnel who, over a period of about eight months, will receive training in basic skills and prerequisites for flying, servicing and maintaining F-16 combat aircraft. Denmark, along with 10 other countries, have joined together in a coalition to ensure the training of the Ukrainian personnel.

 

The training tasks are an important element in the western countries' support for Ukraine, and these are tasks that the Danish soldiers are trained to carry out. The armed Forces has many years of experience in cooperating with the Ukrainian armed forces through, among other things, the Peace and Stabilization Fund, where the armed Forces have provided support with, among other things, advice, education and training of Ukrainian soldiers.

 

Donations

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Denmark has extended its support to the country. Danish support for Ukraine is carried out in close coordination with the other NATO countries. 

 

Denmark has donated a lot of different military equipment to Ukraine. Donations of, among other things, main battle tanks, air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, safety equipment, first aid equipment and a mobile hospital, etc. supports the Ukrainian units' defense of Ukraine. Further reading. (The list of donations is in Danish only)

 

Support before February 2022 - Operation Unifier and Orbital

NATO has cooperated with Ukraine since the 1990s. Cooperation intensified in 2014 following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and its support for the self-proclaimed breakaway republics in the Donbas region.

 

Denmark has supported training activities in Ukraine since 2015 during the British-led Operation Orbital. The purpose of Operation Orbital was to train Ukrainian soldiers in basic military skills and operational planning. In addition, the Danish contribution also included a handful of advisors who were placed in various locations at strategic, operational and tactical level respectively and supported with, among other things, reform and educational development in the Ukrainian defense.

 

Danish instructors, advisers, officers and interpreters have thus assisted with individual training and advice in the field of reform and education. The advice and support has taken place in the defense headquarters, educational institutions and in operational units. Here, Ukrainian officers, commanders and privates have received training in everything from first aid, instructor work and Special Forces training to fighting corruption and implementing NATO standards in staff work.

 

Danish instructors, advisers and interpreters are ready to be deployed when it becomes possible to resume work in Ukraine.

 

A Danish instructor teaches Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine before the Russian invasion in February 2022. Photo: Martin Finnedal / Forsvaret