Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed that earlier this week he joined Ukrainian troops for a training session, his second military exercise in two weeks.
On Saturday, Johnson tweeted out a video showing him in full camouflage as he tested out various weapons, including an anti-tank missile launcher and grenade machine gun. He is also seen throwing a grenade.
“This week I visited Ukrainian troops being trained by British Armed Forces in North Yorkshire,” the prime minister said, adding in the video that he had met “some of the 400 Ukrainian troops” who are being trained by UK forces as part of a “huge” initiative. The program, which was announced during Johnson’s visit to Kiev last month, provides for the training of up to 10,000 service members in the coming months.
UK military support for Ukraine has already amounted to £2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) and includes, Johnson said, 6,900 anti-tank weapons and 120 armored vehicles.
Moscow has warned the West against sending weapons to Ukraine, saying that it would only prolong the conflict.
In the video, Johnson paid tribute to the “bravery and heroism” of the Ukrainian soldiers, shouting “Glory to Ukraine” in Ukrainian to the troops.
Last week, the prime minister took part in a demonstration flight at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, England. In a video released by the government, Johnson is shown at the controls of a Typhoon fighter jet giving the thumbs-up to two air-to-air refueling aircraft. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Johnson “seems to show that he likes exorbitant fuel prices, and that refueling is only for celestial beings.”
“English humor,” she said, amid the worsening world energy crisis caused in part by Western sanctions on Russia.