The UK will train 180 Ukrainian soldiers to be combat mental
resilience practitioners on the frontlines in 2025 – nearly
double the 100 who were successfully trained this year.
The Combat Stress Signposting Course (CSSC) has been delivered by
British Army specialists to Ukrainian soldiers within positions
of command as part of Operation Interflex, the UK-led
international training programme for Ukrainian recruits.
As combat mental resilience practitioners– officially termed
control stress operators– the Ukrainian commanders will be
responsible for helping their soldiers manage the stresses of
combat as they defend their nation from Russia's illegal and
unprovoked full-scale invasion.
So far, more than 51,000 Ukrainian troops have been trained in
the UK under Operation Interflex.
Following a rise in recruits reporting trauma exposure and mental
health struggles, the CSSC was initiated on the request of the
Armed Forces of Ukraine's Moral and Psychological Support
department.
Developed with input from Ukrainian military psychologists
alongside specialist mental resilience and mental health
practitioners from UK Defence, the five-week course equips
soldiers with battle shock management techniques for before and
during combat, as well as trauma risk management and signposting
for clinical support following the fight.
Minister of Armed Forces said:
“The Ukrainian people are fighting with huge courage to defend
their country, and it is our duty to put them in the strongest
possible position.
“With hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers receiving mental health
first aid training before returning to the frontlines, resilience
can be spread throughout the ranks of those fighting Russia's
illegal invasion.
“The UK will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine
throughout 2025 as we have done this year.”
Upon completion of the course, the newly equipped Ukrainian
Control Stress Operators will have the power to train and support
hundreds of their fellow soldiers on the frontlines, ensuring the
initial lessons taught by British instructors continue to be
spread far beyond the UK.
An example of the battle shock management techniques being taught
by British soldiers includes iCover; a six-step technique that
can be delivered to a person in acute stress to get them back to
a functioning state in less than a minute, as well as mindfulness
grounding exercises that help a soldier override their fear or
stress in the heat of battle.
Operation Interflex, conducted by the UK Armed Forces and 12
partner nations, has trained 51,000 Ukrainians in essential
frontline combat skills since it was established in the summer of
2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion. The training has
been extended through to at least the end of 2025, with an
enhanced training programme to ensure the Ukrainian forces are
equipped with vital battlefield skills.
During a visit to Kyiv on 19 December, the Defence Secretary announced
a new £225M military package with a mix of funding from the
UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine and the UK's own
funding.
The UK's continued leadership on the war in Ukraine throughout
2025 will see an increase to Ukraine's military capability: with
new maritime drones and boats, air defence systems and
counter-drone systems.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
· The Combat Stress
Signposting course is broken down into two phases. Phase 1 which
lasts three weeks is a theoretical, classroom-based programme
with phase 2 seeing the CSSC trainees sent to an Interflex
training unit to support Ukrainian personnel who are being
trained in infantry soldier skills with mental resilience. The
CSSC trainees are able to put into practice the theoretical
skills they have learnt, providing support, combat stress
management, mental resilience training, pastoral and welfare
support to the Interflex trainees as well as practicing their
ability to identify, triage and support soldiers exhibiting signs
of battlefield or combat stress.
· The course content includes
Trauma Risk Incident Management (TRiM, a strategy for identifying
personnel who continue to be distressed and unable to function
following a traumatic event and who require additional support),
Mental Resilience Training (MRT), Defence Train the Trainer
(DTTT), iCOVER (a peer delivered strategy which quickly manages
battle shock and enables to soldier to continue functioning in
battle) and Mindfulness, all of which are components of UK
Defence's mental health support.
· When Interflex began in
June 2022, just a few months after Putin's full scale invasion of
Ukraine, the majority of the trainees who came to the UK had
little to no combat experience, and were civilians. As the
illegal war has continued this picture has changed and evolved,
and increasing numbers of trainees have experienced combat or the
trauma of war as the conflict has continued.
· In September 2023 the
trainees who attended Interflex had the highest combat experience
to date at that point with 91% of that training cohort having
prior experience. 91% of them had experienced indirect fire, 69%
had experienced close quarters combat and 74% had treated
battlefield casualties. The immediate impression was the group
was combat fatigued with several showing mental health troubles.
The CSSC course was developed and implemented in light of the
increasing combat experience and conflict-related trauma exposure
of the Interflex trainees.
