In all, more than 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained as part of the multinational Operation Interflex, including under the guidance of instructors from Estonia.

"They're taught how to assemble equipment; how to dress for various climatic conditions, in the forest, at night; how to sleep at night; how to cook at night and how to even use a mess kit," explained Arvo Kaljupulk, commander of the Estonian contingent. "Weapons handling skills – how to shoot lying down, standing or kneeling."

For many Ukrainians, this marks the first time they've ever donned military equipment or held a gun. Over the course of seven weeks, the new soldiers also practice caring for the wounded, surviving urban combat and much more – skills that conscripts in Estonia have several months to learn.

"Looking at the intensity of this course, we don't offer anything this intensive in Estonia," Kaljupulk acknowledged. "We take into consideration that the trainees here have two or three days off. On those days, their own instructors continue to train them. Basically, they have no days off during their 35 days here."

Providing training in England is safer than in Ukraine, but even there, you can feel the watchful eye of Moscow. The locations of the training camps are kept secret, and the faces of the Ukrainian troops and instructors cannot be shown. It's clear that this isn't simply routine training to be prepared – the goal is to support Ukraine in its fight as much as possible.

"For the U.K., as Interflex's lead nation, it's critically important – alongside all our partners – that we can provide about one-tenth of the total training volume for Ukraine," said British Ambassador to Estonia Ross Allen.

Good training is especially crucial now, as Ukraine struggles with recruiting new soldiers.

"Russia may have superiority in terms of numbers of people, and there's little we can do about that, but we can give Ukraine an advantage in quality," Allen stressed. "We can ensure that each Ukrainian soldier endures for longer – and, of course, we hope they survive this conflict – while becoming more dangerous to the adversary: much more effective in soldier-to-soldier situations."

The third group of Estonian instructors tasked with training Ukrainian troops began their mission in the U.K. this June.

Estonia decided this January to join the British-led multinational training mission Operation Interflex, which provides basic military training to Ukrainian servicemembers. Also involved in the mission are the Nordic countries, the other Baltic countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Kosovo.

A year ago, a representative of Estonia's Ministry of Defense told ERR that over the course of two years, Estonia had trained 1,300 Ukrainian troops through other missions.

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