The Czech Republic will conduct training for 4,000 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Minister of Defense Jana Černochová announced this, Ceske Noviny reports.

The Czech government made this decision at a Wednesday meeting.

The training of the Ukrainian military in the Czech Republic will last until the end of next year and should include five four-week rotations, each of which will involve up to 800 military personnel.

“At today’s meeting, the government agreed to the stay and training of Ukrainian military personnel on the territory of the Czech Republic,” Černochová said.

The training is currently based on bilateral agreements between the governments of the Czech Republic and Ukraine. But in the future, this process of military training will be overseen by the EU mission.

“We are also organizing the training of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel on the territory of the Czech Republic on the basis of bilateral negotiations, and at the same time, we would later hand it over to the training mission of the European Union. Even after that, the training will continue taking place on the territory of the Czech Republic,” Černochová explained.

The first training shift will take place already this year. The Czech Republic will train approximately 700 soldiers of the mechanized battalion and 40 security unit personnel, 30 medical specialists, 10 chemical troops specialists, and 20 engineering troops specialists. Four more training shifts with the same composition are planned for the next year.

“They will take place by the end of 2023,” the minister added.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic, the total cost of training is estimated at 975 million Czech korunas. This year, the project should cost 195 million Czech korunas, and next year – 780 million.

CBRN protection vehicles based on Iveco for the defense of the Czech Armed Forces. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic

These funds are coming from the budget of the Ministry of Defense of the country. After the training is transferred to the European Union mission, part of the costs will be reimbursed from the EU financial instruments.

Jana Černochová and Oleksii Reznikov in Kyiv

Previously, Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, mentioned that Ukraine and the Czech Republic were preparing 50+ projects to strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine.