MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2023) Units of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile forces went abroad to learn how to operate European air defense systems, Mykola Oleschuk, the commander of the Ukrainian air force, said on Sunday.
In January, Italy and France agreed to jointly provide advanced Samp/T air defense systems, also known as Mamba, with Aster-30 anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.
"I immediately decided to send the required number of anti-aircraft missile forces units for training. They are already on the way," Oleschuk was quoted as saying by Ukrainian news agency Unian.
The military commander noted that the military personnel would return to Ukraine along with the Samp/T systems.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said earlier this week that the new air defense systems could be deployed on Ukrainian territory in seven to eight weeks.
Russia started a military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. In April, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev. Russian Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also warned that providing Ukraine with weapons was not conducive to peace negotiations and would have a detrimental effect on the conflict.
