LONDON — Britain and France will jointly lead Exercise Koalicja, the first major exercise run by the Multinational Force Ukraine (MNF-U), in Poland from November 9 to 22, the UK Ministry of Defence announced on Monday. Some 2,800 troops from 11 nations will rehearse how to secure lasting peace in Ukraine when the fighting ends.
Source: UK Government (GOV.UK)
The MNF-U is the military arm of the Coalition of the Willing, a group of nations that have pledged strengthened military, economic and diplomatic support to Ukraine. The exercise will test how to move, protect and supply a force that would help rebuild Ukraine's armed forces once the fighting ends, and will test command-and-control arrangements so troops from different countries can operate as one multinational force, the ministry said.
Source: UK Government (GOV.UK)
What the rehearsal will test
Britain is contributing 300 personnel: soldiers from the Army's 7 Brigade, the 'Desert Rats', will rehearse logistical movements, while RAF Typhoons and a Voyager refuelling aircraft fly sorties overhead, simulating how they would reassure commercial air travel once Ukraine's skies reopen. The air component will be coordinated from Romania, and Turkish forces will stand up the force's maritime element in Istanbul, testing mine-clearance arrangements to allow commercial shipping to safely return to Ukraine's ports, according to the ministry and the BBC.
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: "This exercise shows the UK is stepping up, alongside France and our allies, to prepare for the day peace comes to Ukraine. This isn't a hypothetical plan, it's a real force, ready to help Ukraine once the fighting stops." Lt Gen Tom Bateman, the British three-star general who commands the MNF-U, said the exercise would show the force is "a real, capable, readily deployable force" and a serious commitment to Ukraine's long-term stability. The force's headquarters is set to move from Paris to London this year.
Source: UK Government (GOV.UK)
Only after the fighting stops — and not on the front line
The ministry stressed that the MNF-U would only move into Ukraine once fighting has ceased and at the request of Ukraine's government, and that it would not carry out offensive operations, peacekeeping or ceasefire-monitoring duties, and would not operate under NATO command or on the front line. The BBC reported that the United States has been involved in discussions but is not contributing to the mission, and that officials declined to spell out the force's final shape or its rules of engagement if its troops were attacked, beyond saying the force would be able to defend itself.
Source: BBC News via Opera News
The 11 participating nations are Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye and the UK. Russia has previously voiced opposition to foreign troops being stationed in Ukraine, and the BBC noted that President Vladimir Putin said last year such troops would be "legitimate targets" — a position Moscow has not changed, even as Russia has shown no sign of wanting to end its war, the BBC reported.
Koalicja is the first time Europe's promised post-war reassurance force for Ukraine is being rehearsed as a real deployment — moving the Coalition of the Willing from summit pledges to tested logistics, command and mine-clearance plans, even though any actual deployment still depends on a ceasefire that is not in sight.