Denmark is planning to send some of its soldiers to Ukraine so they can learn from Ukraine’s experience fighting Russia, and Russia said they would be legitimate military targets.
Maj. Gen. Peter Boysen, Denmark’s commander in chief, told state broadcaster TV 2 that unarmed Danish troops will be sent to learn drone warfare.
He said the troops would be stationed in Western Ukraine, which is far from the front lines but is still subject to some Russian long-range missile attacks.
“We’re sending some teams down to see what experiences the Ukrainians have had — first-hand,” Boysen said, according to a translation of his remarks by the Kyiv Independent.
“They are not going there to actively participate in the war,” he added.
Boysen said operators and instructors would take courses that last one to two weeks, and the training would start as soon as possible, potentially this summer. He said it had not yet been decided how many troops would be sent.
Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, told TV 2 that the move was a provocation and said it would “drag Denmark deeper and deeper into the conflict in Ukraine,” per the Kyiv Independent’s translation.
He said that facilities “including headquarters, training and education centers, as well as locations of military personnel and military equipment, both deep inside Ukrainian territory and on the front line, are a legitimate target.”
Russia has described other Western assets in Ukraine, like a plant for German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, as legitimate military targets, but has not had any reported or confirmed strikes on them.
Boysen said Ukraine has strong air raid warning systems and shelters, and said he spent time in a shelter in Kyiv when visiting Ukraine.
Learning from the war
Ukraine has become a world leader in drone warfare, rapidly innovating new tactics, drone types, and countermeasures.
Western nations have paid close attention.
Boysen said that in the 42 years he’s been in the armed forces, he’s never seen things develop as quickly as they have with uncrewed systems and tactics.
“We can learn a lot from the combat experience they have gained in Ukraine,” Boysen said. “It is clear that we are relying on their experience to become better in combat.”
He also said the project started with an invitation from Ukraine’s commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Drones have been used in Ukraine more than in any other conflict in history. Boysen said attack drones account for more than 70% of Ukrainian kills.
Ukraine is also making most of its own; it said more than 96% of the 1.5 million drones it bought last year were of Ukrainian origin.
A future conflict
A conflict between Russia and the West would likely look very different from the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s reliance on drones has been partly driven by its shortages of other weaponry and defenses, and by it having a much smaller military than Russia.
But most warfare experts agree that drones will be a key part of any future conflict.
The West is also adopting lessons far beyond drones.
Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark’s defense minister, told Business Insider in February that the West can learn lessons from Ukraine, including about how to make weapons faster.
“From the armed forces, we have quite much to learn, especially on the tactics,” he said.
Denmark has already increased its defense spending, warning, like many other European nations, that Russia could attack elsewhere on the continent.
It is also the second-biggest giver of aid to Ukraine as a proportion of its GDP, and has played a leading role in giving Ukraine key weapons, like F-16 fighter jets.
Poulsen said allies should step up their support to Ukraine further: “We should be able to give Ukraine what they will need in the future.”
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