As of: February 3, 2024, 8:40 a.m
By: Karsten Hinzmann
Comments
Press
Split
Veteran but indispensable: The German Marder infantry fighting vehicle is also a feared opponent in Ukraine - if the crew can exploit its strengths in combat (archive photo).
© Philipp Schulze/dpa
Many Ukrainians do not go to war as soldiers.
In Germany, some people are learning to survive the fight against Russia.
Berlin – In the video his name is Artur.
Artur has been fighting as a soldier in the Ukrainian army since February 2022.
In a calm voice, the experienced fighter talks about his family, his worries and fears, his sense of duty and how he feels about the war in his homeland.
Shortly before Christmas, the Bundeswehr published the video on its website
bundeswehr.de
.
In the almost seven minutes of running time, the camera looks over Artur's shoulder as he practices aiming, how he moves in combat, finds mines, and rescues the wounded from the battlefield.
Artur is a storm pioneer and came to Germany for training after his first wound.
Artur's learning goals are very simple: survive - as long as possible - and beyond that: kill - as effectively as possible.
It will take five days, five weeks, perhaps even months until he or his comrades have mastered one or the other with the greatest possible probability.
The length of time it takes for Ukrainian soldiers to be trained by the Bundeswehr and other NATO countries varies.
Germany wants to train another 10,000 soldiers from Ukraine this year.
The German Defense State Secretary Siemtje Möller (SPD) said in Brussels that it was clear to Germany that it would continue to stand firmly on Ukraine's side.
As last year, the training takes place as part of the European training mission “Eumam UA” (European Union Military Assistance Mission Ukraine).
Since Russia's war of aggression at the beginning of 2022, Ukraine has fiercely defended itself against Vladimir Putin's troops.
Germany supports with sometimes complex weapon systems that would be worthless for the war in Ukraine without training;
In addition to arms deliveries, the Bundeswehr takes on a central task in the European training mission “Eumam UA”.
It was decided on October 17, 2022 and launched on November 15, 2022 to provide military support during the ongoing Russian invasion.
The main goal of the mission continues to be the training of Ukrainian armed forces on the territory of EU member states - Poland and the Netherlands were particularly committed to this.
The marten: The classic car is still dangerous for Russia
In addition to many other complex weapons, Ukraine has received 90 Marder armored personnel carriers and is therefore learning how to move the vehicle in combat.
In addition, the infantrymen's mounting and dismounting is also practiced.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) revealed at the beginning of the “Eumam UA” courses that the training would take place on the Marder at the military training area in Munster in Lower Saxony.
Training on the Leopard main battle tank was also to take place there.
Training on the Patriot missile defense system is probably taking place at the US military training area in Grafenwöhr, Bavaria, around 70 kilometers northeast of Nuremberg.
This is also obvious because Grafenwöhr probably offers the best conditions for training - this is what the news service
t-online
suspects .
Clear statements on this are rare.
“Awakening understanding of the respective weapon system,” says Colonel Heiko Diehl in the Bundeswehr podcast
Asked about
the general mission of the Bundeswehr.
Diehl is chief of staff at the “Special Training Command” in Strausberg, Brandenburg and coordinates the training of all Ukrainian armed forces in Germany.
For example, in order to make the Marder combat-ready and competitive, nine soldiers have to be coordinated - significantly more soldiers than in pure battle tanks or self-propelled guns, such as the self-propelled howitzer 2000 or the Gepard anti-aircraft cannon tank.
The commander, the gunner and the driver are trained first.
Diehl: “It starts with simulation training and continues with pure driving training, followed by combat-like movement on the battlefield;
and that alone is far more extensive than driving license training as we know it in Germany;
“We try to take the special conditions on the Ukrainian battlefield into account right from the start.”
My news
Russia sees plan behind NATO maneuvers: diplomat attacks Deutschlandlesen
“Balloon burst”: Strack-Zimmermann clearly rejects Taurus ring exchange
Obama or Biden?
Donald Trump's misfires heat up debate about mental state
Direct hit against Putin's Crimean troops: Ukraine achieves unique air strike reading
Martens and leopards: Ukraine is building a “German” tank brigade
43 mins ago
Entrepreneur writes to Habeck in desperation - and is overwhelmed by the reaction: read “Simply unbelievable”.
The soldiers: Ukraine only has a chance against Russia as a team
According to the colonel, the crew also experiences the same intensity of training - the rifle squad of six infantrymen, who can only achieve the Marder's full performance through combat-like mounting and dismounting, including the fulfillment of the respective mission, as well as through the orderly return to the vehicle the final change of position.
For example, the soldiers should learn which tactical principles should be used when fighting in towns, how to storm a house, and that their own movements should only be made under cover of fire.
Diehl: “Each Marder crew has two military leaders who have to combine their tasks in as much detail as possible in order to be able to optimally affect the enemy with the weapon system.” A paradox: “German air defense protects the people in Ukraine from Russian rocket terrorism .
Marder and Leopard tanks strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces.
“This reveals an insight that requires cognitive resilience: German weapons save human lives in Ukraine,” writes Green Party politician Robin Wagener in the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
.
The basic principle of NATO strategy is the combined arms battle, i.e. NATO's military doctrine against the armored forces of the then Warsaw Pact.
The starting point was the idea that a high numerical preponderance of armored combat vehicles can be combated most efficiently through the cooperation of different types of weapons in the combat modes of delay or defense, but also in counterattacks.
This approach is important because Russia's attacks are carried out without regard to casualties, as Ralf Raths explains: "Western military doctrine wants to protect the individual soldier and the individual vehicle as best as possible. Russia's military leaders always think as a group - when a soldier or a vehicle breaks down, there is always a replacement,” says the director of the German Tank Museum in Munster.
The “Eumam UA” project has grown with the war in Ukraine: So far, around 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in NATO countries, as was decided by the foreign ministers of the EU member states in November 2022 - at that time they wanted to Signatories will initially train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Germany, Poland and other countries - for example 7,000 soldiers in France.
The goal was later increased to 30,000 and then to 40,000.
The Bundeswehr initially trained around 10,000 of them.
It is still primarily up to the individual soldier to use the technical superiority of Western weapons profitably, says Brigadier General Björn Schulz, head of the Bundeswehr's tank school in the Bundeswehr podcast
Asked
.
“It is important that both the individual soldier in a tank uses the system correctly and the tactical leader of a group knows how to use its technical superiority.”
The mission: advance Ukraine's offensive with many supporters
The task remains difficult; the group of trainees could hardly be more heterogeneous.
Artur was previously a security guard for a security company until he heard the first explosions of Russian missiles at his workplace on February 24, 2022 and his boss told him: “Artur, get dressed, it's war.” He has been a soldier ever since.
Fighting alongside him are former bakers, owners of retail stores and veterans who have been taking up arms against Russia since 2014.
And adolescents who are not 20 years old.
All of them become defensive men in Western Europe - after they have overcome the first hurdle with the help of many language mediators: that of communicating with their German comrades.
According to the Bundeswehr, an average of around 1,500 Bundeswehr members were recently involved in the training mission.
They were therefore used as trainers, but also in supplying the Ukrainian forces and as language mediators.
Without the latter, the education of Ukrainians would have been doomed to failure.
They interpret.
Language mediators translate training documents and pocket cards to help you understand the most important content.
However, the majority of the women and men are not trained interpreters, but rather Bundeswehr soldiers with knowledge of Ukrainian or Russian.
The language barrier was already one of the toughest obstacles to arms deliveries: all technical documents and all computer programs, for example, had to be translated into Cyrillic, which was a time-consuming process.
There is no Bundestag mandate for the deployment of German soldiers in the Ukrainian war on home territory because it does not represent the deployment of armed forces within the meaning of the Parliamentary Participation Act.
In his speech on February 24, 2023, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) emphasized the vitally important deployment of all supporting forces of the Bundeswehr and addressed them directly: Ukraine needs them in order to be able to survive in its fight.
“Whatever is required of you, on the training ground, in action, during training or even in the office: you are the real changers of the times!
You can be proud of that.”
Artur says in the video that he would be back at the front on New Year's Day - and will probably be able to hold his own against the enemy better since then.
Allegedly.
In order to guarantee Artur and his comrades more security, Green Party politician Robin Wagener calls for a greater willingness to take risks in Berlin: “A new special defense fund is also urgently needed in view of Russian arms production.
Berlin should resolutely join the relevant initiatives.
Our hesitation has massive consequences.”