UK troops training Ukrainian soldiers 'legitimate target' for Russia, warns Medvedev

Russia's ex-President Dmitry Medvedev has renewed the warnings about targetting the British troops as a proposal is being discussed in the UK parliament to deploy them to Ukraine for training President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's forces during the raging counteroffensive for the first time.

UK's new defence secretary Grant Shapps is holding talks with the Army leaders to send British troops to teach combat skills to Ukrainian soldiers that would reduce reliance on the UK as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] members’ military bases. 

'A new idiot: the British Defense Minister': Medvedev

Medvedev, in reference to the British troops arriving in Ukraine, warned that they would be a legitimate target for Russian forces. British instructors in Ukraine "will become a legal target for the Russian military and will be destroyed without mercy," the vice-president of the Russian Security Council Medvedev wrote on Telegram. 

“The number of major idiots in NATO countries is growing. A new idiot, the British Defense Minister, decided to transfer training courses for Ukrainian soldiers to the territory of Ukraine itself,” he asserted. 

Shapps, who held bilateral talks with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, earlier this week said that the training programme for Ukraine’s military is backed by at least 10 more nations. Military of the NATO countries has taught combat skills to more than 26,500 recruits and the UK has agreed to train nearly 30,000 soldiers, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

Following consultation with his chief of the general staff, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, and other senior personnel at Salisbury Plain, Shapps told reporters, “I was talking today about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine as well." He continued, “Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things ‘in the country’ – not just training, but also we’re seeing BAE [the UK defence firm], for example, move into manufacturing in the country, for example."

“I’m keen to see other British companies do their bit as well by doing the same thing. So I think there will be a move to get more training and production in the country," British Defence minister Shapps said. 

A Boeing H-47 chinook helicopter transports new recruits of the Ukraine Army trained by UK military. Credit: AP

Last month, The Royal Engineer soldiers, or 'Sappers' delivered crucial Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training to Ukrainian soldiers to disable mines, munitions and other explosive devices planted in Ukraine by Russian troops. The tailored British training package included teaching Ukraine's soldiers the munition recognition, disposal methods and search procedures to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs), mines, booby traps and trip wires.

"Putin’s illegal invasion has left Ukraine’s fields and towns covered in deadly landmines and unexploded munitions, which presents an immediate danger to its citizens now, and for years to come," Shapps said. 

Royal Engineers "are using their world-leading experience to train Ukraine’s bomb disposal experts, who can pass on these lifesaving skills to their own recruits and ensure a safer future for all Ukrainians," he added. 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomes British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps. Credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service

Medvedev warned that should the British troops arrive in Ukraine, the UK would have transformed its 'instructors' into a "legal target for our Armed Forces, knowing full well that they will be destroyed without mercy. And not as mercenaries, but as British NATO specialists."

Berlin's Taurus KEPD-350 missile 5 production facilities will be hit: Medvedev

Russia's ex-president threatened Germany against shipment of the Taurus-guided missiles equipped with laser rangefinders and infrared seekers that would be deployed by Ukraine's military to target entrenched Russian positions. The 5-meter-long (16.4 feet) and 1.4 tons Taurus KEPD-350 missile 5 is the most modern weapon system that is used by Bundeswehr--the German military forces. It can travel with the speed of sound, approximately 1,170 kilometres per hour (727 miles per hour) and can hit the target at 500 kilometres (310 miles) evading the radar systems. 

German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has been stalling the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine over fears that it might be used to strike targets deep inside the Russian territory, resulting in intensifying the conflict or even bringing the war on NATO's doorstep. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has been giving assurances to the German government about the usage of missiles to be restricted within Ukraine's borders.

Ukrainian volunteer military recruits take part in an urban battle exercise while undergoing training by British armed forces at a military base in southern England. Credit: AP

British Army and Defence Ministry continue to deliver international training of Ukrainian military recruits. Credit: AP

Ukraine has 'right to strike on Russian territory': German Bundestag chair

Taurus KEPD-350 missile 5, says German Air Force, could be used to hit high-value targets, including bunkers, trenches, and reinforced concrete walls. Berlin plans to send 150 to 300 of the total 600 Taurus missiles that its military currently has in its reservoir. While Germany’s ruling coalition approved sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine. On Sept. 4, German MP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann wrote on X that "he [Chancellor Scholz] alone blocks this decision within the coalition." 

As chair of the Defence Committee at the German Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, urged the German parliament to send the long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, adding that its military has the right to target the territory of the Russian Federation. Medvedev warned that the German factories producing Taurus missiles will become legitimate targets of the Russian troops.