"Davai! Davai!" ("Go! Go!"). Leaning over the edge of a muddy trench, a French soldier harangued a column of Ukrainian soldiers. Going over the top in an assault on a barbed-wire-covered trench, the soldiers were not progressing fast enough for the instructor's liking. "The set-up was smooth. We didn't see or hear them until they began their supporting fire. But they should have moved into the trench more quickly so as not to give the enemy [played by French soldiers] time to regroup," explained Captain Rémi, the officer supervising the maneuver. "We'll debrief with them."

As the war in Ukraine turns into protracted positional warfare, the French army's training program for Kyiv's soldiers – which began in February 2023 – has been gradually gaining momentum. After several months of trial and error, during which the men were scattered across different regiments, the general staff decided to group all infantry combat training programs together in a camp in central France, the location of which is being kept confidential, but which was opened to the media at the beginning of November. A name has even been given to the detachment responsible for looking after the Ukrainians: "Task Force 19," in reference to the marriage of Anne of Kyiv to King Henri I – grandson of the French royal House of Capet's founder – which took place on May 19, 1051, and marked the beginning of relations between France and Ukraine.

Here, amidst trees and fields, several hundred Ukrainian soldiers take turns undergoing between two and five weeks of training, in conditions close to the real thing, just as French infantrymen usually do during their operational preparation courses. "We offer them different types of ground combat training. It can be trench clearing or urban warfare, but also more specialized stuff, like sharpshooting, combat engineering [and] navigating minefields," listed Lieutenant Colonel Even (surnames have been removed at the army's request), head of the "Task Force 19" detachment.

'It takes discipline'

The French instructors make no secret of the fact that the first few days can be difficult. The Ukrainians who have come for training were mostly volunteers, and have often had no military training. "We have bakers, plumbers, some over 40 years [of age]. We have to teach them how to walk, carry loads [and] endure the cold," said Captain Michel. "At first, they talk all the time, they find it hard to report to their superiors, because it takes discipline. That's why we practice and practice again. We drill all the time," said Captain Xavier.

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