NAO report: Ukrainian troops better prepared for war after training in the UK

Nearly nine in ten Ukrainian troops trained by the British Army under ‘Operation Interflex' said they felt better equipped to survive on the battlefield following the completion of training, according to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report.  

Between January 2022 – when Russia begun assembling troops near the Ukrainian border – and March 2025 – more than three years after Russia's invasion – the UK committed £7.8 billion¹ of military support for Ukraine².  

The UK's backing for Ukraine involves training Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) personnel on UK soil, with basic infantry training provided for new recruits and advanced leadership and instructor training for experienced and selected personnel. The main training programme is ‘Operation Interflex', which surpassed its target to train 40,000 Ukrainian troops by July 2024, reaching 42,050 at this point.  

The most recent tranche of Operation Interflex trainees (tranche 4) consisted of 9,000 Ukrainian troops, with 43% of this tranche having previous combat experience. Following the completion of training, 89% of tranche 4 trainees stated that they felt they were better equipped to survive on the battlefield. Some feedback from tranche 4 trainees suggested that elements of the training could be better aligned to the conditions in Ukraine, and certain AFU training requests have not been met by the British Army. For instance, the MoD has only provided limited drone training due to UK military and civil aviation regulations, but is exploring ways to mitigate this. 

Providing training to Ukrainian recruits has reduced the availability of training facilities for the British Army. Army units which bid for time at the training sites in 2023 had their bids rejected eight times more often than in 2019³, because sites were not available. The MoD acknowledges that Operation Interflex will constrain the Army's capacity to train its own soldiers on its training sites, with more than a quarter of the Army's training estate being used. The Army says it will continue to deliver Interflex through 2024, working with international partners and the Army Reserve to mitigate the impact of supporting Ukraine on UK forces. 

To speed up some of its weapons⁴ procurement for Ukraine, the MoD has used non-competitive procurement⁵. As the conflict has continued the MoD's Defence Equipment Support (DE&S), which carries out the procurement process, has sought to run competitive tendering exercises in cases where the Ukrainian demand for equipment has become more consistent and predictable.  

In addition to rapidly procuring equipment for Ukraine, the MoD has donated equipment worth £171.5 million from UK stockpiles. Since mid-2023, however, the MoD has sharply reduced its donations of equipment because it assessed that to continue would have imposed unacceptable risks to the UK's military readiness.  

To address concerns over the UK's military readiness, MoD has placed contracts worth almost £1 billion to replenish equipment donated from UK stockpiles and estimates the total cost of replacing donated equipment as £2.71 billion. This reflects the cost of replacing old equipment with new, and in some cases more advanced technology. The MoD has also increased wider funding for UK military stockpiles by £2.51 billion between 2022-23 and 2024-25, and committed in April 2024 to invest £10 billion in munitions productions over the next decade.   

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO said:  

“In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine the UK sought to provide support quickly, through less structured management processes. As the war has progressed, the MoD has learnt lessons, establishing a more routine approach for the £7.8 billion of military support it is providing.  

“As the Ministry of Defence plans its future support for Ukraine, it must continue to balance the UK's strategic interests with maintaining the UK's own military capabilities. This includes making sure there are appropriate stocks of equipment and sufficient training provision for UK forces.” 

Scope of the report 

·                 This investigation was prepared in response to public and parliamentary interest in MoD's support for Ukraine and the cost of providing this support. In it we set out the MoD's approach to supporting the AFU and how it has developed as the war has continued, focusing on the extent and nature of the MoD's military equipment supplies and the training provided to the AFU, and the financial implications. The report covers: 

o  An overview of the UK's military support for Ukraine (Part One); 

o  Supplying Ukraine with military equipment (Part Two); and 

o  Training Ukrainian personnel (Part Three). 

·                 This investigation does not seek to assess the strategic case for supporting Ukraine, or to evaluate the value for money or effectiveness of the equipment and training provided. Information on some aspects of MoD's support for Ukraine is classified for reasons of national security and is not included in this report. 

Notes to editors  

1.  £7.8 billion is the total UK funding committed to military support for Ukraine, between January 2022 and March 2025. The UK is also providing humanitarian and economic support.  

2.  The UK sought to be an early leader in providing support, with its efforts guided by wider UK foreign policy and part of an international response. According to German research organisation the Kiel Institute, the UK is the third largest provider of military assistance, behind the US and Germany.  

3.  2019 is last available year for comparisons before the pandemic and the Ukraine war.  

4.  For examples of equipment supplied to Ukraine, please refer to figure 8 page 24.