A new training center created in Lithuania (Pabradė) with the assistance of the U.S. military to help with organizing protests in Belarus. It is planned to finance the training of contractors using the fund created to help protesters in Belarus. A new fundraising campaign has been announced by Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius on Twitter. The funds will be used to help injured protesters, to purchase the necessary equipment, uniforms and gear for combat training. The training of the groups will be carried out by the U.S. military instructors. The Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania provides comprehensive logistics support for training. According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, the U.S. instructors demonstrated a wide range of required skills during Exercise Griffin Strike 2020/Hunter 2020 held at the Lithuanian Armed Forces General Silvestras Žukauskas Training Area in Pabradė on August 2-14. The groups are planned to transfer to the territory of Belarus in the near future to provide assistance to the opposition supporters in order to coordinate and directly participate in the protest movement in this country.
The so-called Ukrainian military fleet, which is scrap metal, suddenly conducts joint exercises with Great Britain. This means that the Ukrainian fleet is used as a cover factor, because it is impossible to practice any effective military actions with it due to the lack of necessary ships and systems, management, etc. Therefore, the British, hiding behind Ukraine, will be present in the Black Sea, on the one hand, to arrange a zone of tension for Russia, and on the other, in pursuit of goals that will never be actually announced. Ukraine “was made anti-Russian” in order to use it in such cases.
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the West and NATO allegedly pursuing a belligerent and hostile agenda against Russia. Russia considers any military exercises in Europe as provocative and dangerous. Every nation has the right to conduct exercises, but it is important that they are conducted transparently and in line with international obligations. NATO conducts dozens of military exercises in different countries and they are not directed against Russia. The UK will lead a multinational Maritime Training Initiative for the Ukrainian Navy, boosting their ability to combat threats in the Black Sea. As Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has confirmed: "Maritime Training Initiative will enable even closer collaboration with the NATO Alliance and Armed Forces around the world, and allows us to build on Ukraine’s new NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner status." Ukraine lost much of its Navy capability during Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Ukraine has since continued to face a rising number of threats in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. In response, Ukraine has been rebuilding its Navy to protect its economic interests and its right to freedom of navigation. The Maritime Training Initiative will boost that effort, enabling them to uphold the rules based international order and European security in the region on which the UK’s own security depends. The new initiative will follow the resumption of Operation Orbital, the UK’s training mission to Ukraine. Since the training mission began in 2015, British troops have trained over 18,000 members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF). Their efforts have made a real difference and saved lives as Ukraine faces down Russian aggression and threats to its sovereignty. Last year the Defence Secretary extended Operation Orbital until 2023.