A France-trained force aims to strengthen Ukraine's defenses at a critical point in war

A FRENCH MILITARY BASE, France (AP) — A French military task force with a festive name — “Champagne” — is wrapping up a mission that's no party: training a whole new brigade of several thousand Ukrainian troops who will be joining the fight against Russia's invasion armed with France-supplied tanks, artillery canons and other heavy weaponry.

The approaching return to Ukraine of the “Anne of Kyiv” brigade, after more than two months of intense military training in eastern and southern France, comes at another critical juncture in the almost three-year war.

Russian forces are driving westward in an effort to capture all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. They've been bolstered by up to 12,000 North Korean troops that have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk border region to help beat back Ukrainian forces there, according to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments.

The reelection of Donald Trump is also keeping Ukraine and its allies guessing about the impact he'll have as U.S. president on the war's future trajectory, following his campaign pledges to swiftly end the fighting and suggestions that Kyiv should cede territory to Moscow in return for peace.

When deployed, the French-trained and -equipped brigade named after a Kyiv princess who became a queen of France could prove to be a formidable force on the battlefields. It will eventually be made up of 4,500 troops, formed of infantry battalions, plus engineers, artillery teams and other specialists, French authorities have previously said.

The more than 2,000 soldiers who have been training in France are being put through final paces before their return to Ukraine.

The majority of them were recently mobilized and previously had just a few weeks of basic training before their arrival in France in September, the French military says. The Ukrainian military is also training other troops for the brigade back in Ukraine, according to French authorities.

The French military dedicated around 1,500 of its own soldiers to the “Champagne” task force that has been teaching the Ukrainians how to fight effectively together and how to use and maintain their France-supplied weaponry.

The French military says the brigade's arsenal will include 18 AMX 10 light tanks, 18 truck-mounted Caesar artillery pieces, 128 armored troop carriers, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems, plus other weaponry and equipment.

With observation drones buzzing overhead and amid clouds of smoke and bursts of gunfire and explosions, the Ukrainian soldiers conducted exercises this week at a French military training camp, showing how they have learned to defend and storm a complex of trenches like those on the battlefronts in Ukraine.

The French military wouldn't allow visiting journalists to interview the Ukrainians. French officers involved in the training said the troops are now better prepared for combat that they'll likely experience in months ahead.

“They have improved a lot," said Col. Paul. The French military withheld his last name, citing security reasons.

“Now they are able to fight, they are able to maneuver," he said. "They are able to use the different specialists and to use the different equipment they will have on the battlefield.”

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