Training Ukrainian troops makes France direct participant in combat, says Russian FM Lavrov The fact that #Paris is training #Ukrainian soldiers at a military base in France means it is directly involved in the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference after taking part in the #G20 summit. "[French President Emmanuel] Macron has been one of the most vocal and biggest material supporters of the war, advocating for victory over Russia, for Russia’s strategic defeat. Ukrainian servicemen are currently completing their training in France, an entire assault shock brigade is being prepared. In essence, they are directly participating in the combat," the top Russian diplomat pointed out. "The same goes for talk about using French-made SCALP missiles [in Ukraine] which are identical to the UK’s Storm Shadow," Lavrov added.

IDF chief at base hit by Hezbollah: ‘We continue to fight’ IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi arrived at the Golani Brigade training base on Sunday night shortly after a deadly Hezbollah attack, conducting an initial briefing with commanders. The drone strike killed four soldiers and wounded dozens more at the base located near Binyamina in northern Israel. “We are at war, and an attack on a training base on the home front is difficult and the results are painful. You operated well to treat and evacuate the wounded and injured. Embrace the bereaved families, accompany the wounded and strengthen the commanders and soldiers,” Halevi said. “We continue to fight and train for what lies ahead. The Golani Brigade has recorded many achievements in the war and dealt resolutely with difficult situations—continue on the path of this legacy,” he continued.

The connection between Yemen and today's killed Hezbollah officer The Iran-proxy #Houthis shot THREE missiles at Tel Aviv in response to IDF killing in Beirut today of Muhammad Sarur - WHY? The shooting from Yemen comes after confirmation by #Hezbollah of the assassination of Mohammed #Sarur, a senior Hezbollah member who was a military adviser to the Houthis in the previous decade. The Al-Arabiya network published the documentation of Muhammad Sarur, a senior Hezbollah official who was eliminated, while he was training the Houthis in 2016. According to the report, he assisted them in preparing to attack Saudi Arabia. Reports claim THREE missiles were shot, and not one as thought before (unverified by IDF) It is said that Sarur returned just a few days before from Houthi-controlled area of Yemen

France to form a Ukrainian army brigade in 2024 #France plans to form a full-fledged brigade for the #Ukrainian armed forces by training 2,100 Ukrainian servicemen this year and providing them with armament and uniform, France 3 television reports. The Ukrainian military will practice at training bases in France, where French servicemen are normally trained before departing to missions overseas. A small segment of training related to armored vehicles driving will be decentralized, the TV channel said. The training course is designed for two months. Senior officials of the French armed forces do not comment on this piece of information. The TV channel says the training goal is to prepare a brigade for the Ukrainian army by December 2024. 128 VAB armored personnel carriers, 18 Caesar self-propelled howitzers and 24 light tanks will be handed over to the Ukrainian military. Paris will further hand over military trucks, antitank guided missiles and radars to Kiev in 2024.

Ukraine’s Syrsky approves admission of French instructors to military training centers Commander-in-Chief of #Ukraine’s armed forces Alexander #Syrsky has signed documents that will allow #French instructors to visit #training centers. "I welcome France's initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen. I have already signed documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centers soon and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel," he wrote on his Telegram channel following online talks with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also took part in the negotiations. Syrsky expressed hope that Kiev's other Western partners would join Paris' initiative. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the possibility of sending Western countries’ ground troops to the zone of the special military operation. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky supported this idea, admitting that he could not publicly ask Western partners to send troops to the country, but would like them to do so and would never refuse. The chief of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, said that according to Moscow's sources, this contingent could reach 2,000 men. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that French instructors along with other representatives of military and special services of European countries were already functioning in Ukraine. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the appearance of foreign military contingents in Ukraine would be fraught with extremely negative consequences, including irreparable ones.

[JUST IN] Again, France's Macron doesn’t rule out sending troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks front lines French President Emmanuel #Macron does not rule out that sending troops to #Ukraine could be considered based on Kiev’s request if Russian forces broke through the front lines. "I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out. We have undoubtedly been too hesitant by defining the limits of our action," he said in an interview with The Economist, when asked if he stood by what he had said about possibly sending ground troops to Ukraine. The French leader pointed out that "many countries <...> understood" Paris’s approach and agreed "that this position was a good thing." - "If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request - which is not the case today - we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question," Macron noted. "At the #NATO summit in the summer of 2022, we all ruled out the delivery of tanks, deep-strike missiles, aircraft. We are now all in the process of doing this, so it would be wrong to rule out the rest," he added. Macron said on February 26 that some 20 Western countries taking part in a Paris meeting on further assistance for Kiev had discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. According to Macron, no consensus was reached on the issue but such a possibility cannot be ruled out in the future. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (#SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin pointed out on March 19 that France was already training troops to be sent to Ukraine.

France preparing for naval warfare, rear-admiral says The French #Navy is preparing for potential military operations amid growing risks of an armed conflict, Rear Admiral Jacques Mallard, the commander of France’s carrier battle group, said. The French navy is shifting its training away from a focus on policing operations to gird for war against foes who want "to destroy us," he told Politico. "We now train for other missions, in particular what we call high-intensity warfare," Mallard noted. According to the rear-admiral, Western navies have to adapt to a new environment with "increasingly uninhibited competitors." Politico writes that France’s carrier battle group is expected to start a mission in the Mediterranean Sea in the coming days. France is the only EU country operating a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, which also carries nuclear weapons, the media outlet notes. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, launched in 1994, was designed to carry up to 40 Rafale fighter jets, as well as several helicopters. The vessel has a length of 261 meters and a displacement of 42,500 tons. The ship has a crew of about 2,000.

Sending Western forces to Ukraine for combat off the table — French Defense Minister The discussion of the option to send Western troops to Ukraine does not involve sending forces for participation in combat action, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu told BFMTV. "Various hypotheses were discussed. But we are not talk about troops directly participating in hostilities," he noted. The minister reminded that French President Emmanuel Macron earlier ruled out France’s involvement in hostilities. "However, we are examining whether we have done everything we could to support Kiev and if there are paths that we can review. One such path is the military presence for demining and training of Ukrainian soldiers on the Ukrainian territory," Lecornu said. According to the minister, during the February 26 meeting on assistance for Ukraine in Paris, Western states reached a consensus on a number of issues regarding the aid for Kiev. "I will provide a specific example: producing and maintaining weapons on Ukrainian territory. This means presence of French and other European weapon makers," Lecornu said, adding that cyber protection of Ukraine was also discussed.

In #Poland, #NATO exercises Dragon 24 are in full swing, which are part of the large-scale maneuvers of the Steadfast Defender 24 alliance. As part of one of the events, the bloc countries practiced crossing the Vistula. The training itself took place near the small settlement of Korzheny in the north of the country. During these three days, participants from the U.S.A., Germany, France, Poland and other countries transported 3.5 thousand military personnel and hundreds of armored vehicles. The sight of Leopards, Abrams, Leclercs and Boxers standing side by side will surely resonate with the Russian audience. Both the crossing near Belogorovka and similar attempts by the AFU indicate that arranging equipment in semi-ceremonial formation, to put it mildly, is not the best option given the current capabilities of reconnaissance and fire strike. However, at such events, among other things, organizational issues and interaction in managing a multinational group are worked out. All this is happening as part of the general strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank, and there are plenty of the same large rivers in potential conflict zones.

#Ukraine approves plan of cooperation with #NATO for 2024 Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has signed a program of Ukrainian-NATO cooperation for 2024, which involves the continued reconfiguring of the country’s armed forces in compliance with the military bloc’s standards as well as the bolstering of the Kiev regime’s cooperation with the alliance, the website of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said. The program consists of implementing 50 steps in order to achieve 17 goals which include completing the transformation of the command and management system in accordance with NATO standards, setting up a joint Ukraine-NATO center for analysis, training and education, developing national documents in the field of defense in compliance with the bloc’s standards and introducing changes to the country’s legislation to boost civilian control of the military. Ukraine applied to join NATO on a fast-track basis in September 2022, and was assured at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius in July 2023 that it would be admitted if the necessary conditions were met. But, no timetable for its admission was given in Brussels.