The EU assistance mission EUMAM Ukraine, which bears a significant Czech footprint, has already helped train more than 85,000 members of the Ukrainian armed forces. In the future, it could expand directly onto the territory of the attacked state.
European Union countries have been seeking all possible ways to help the attacked country since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago. In addition to political support, money, and deliveries of humanitarian aid or weapons, this includes the training of Ukrainian soldiers, which has been taking place under the EUMAM Ukraine assistance mission since November 2022.
“The goal of the mission is to strengthen the military capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces so that they can defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and protect the civilian population,” states the Czech Ministry of Defence.
All training takes place on the territory of one of the European Union states. So far, 24 of them have been involved or offered their capacities in some way, including Czechia. The necessary equipment is provided by the states themselves, but it is financed from the so-called European Peace Facility (EPF).
EUMAM Ukraine is the most extensive training mission for Ukrainian soldiers in the world. As researchers Iulian Romanyshyn and Julian Bergmann argue in their analysis in the journal European Security, the mission owes its unprecedented scope and complexity to the pressure from the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and the European External Action Service, which took the initiative and pushed it through despite conflicting opinions among the Union’s member states.
“This finding illustrates the importance of Brussels-based actors in driving EU security and defence policy forward in times of existential security crisis in Europe,” the researchers add.
What Has Been Achieved So Far
So, how extensive is the mission? It was originally supposed to last two years and provide specialized training to 30,000 members of the Ukrainian armed forces. However, it was later extended until November 15, 2026, and has so far helped train 85,200 Ukrainian soldiers and other army personnel.
The EU has so far sent €610 million to the mission through the European Peace Facility – €435 million for the training itself and €175 million for the necessary equipment.
The mission mainly takes place in military facilities in Germany and Poland and aims to provide comprehensive training at all levels of operational and command activities, from demining through weapon maintenance to battalion preparation.
An example is the multinational specialized Training Command (ST-C) in Strausberg, Germany. In this “hub”, EU and non-EU countries, such as the USA, Norway, or the United Kingdom, combine their forces in training Ukrainian soldiers.
“From Patriot and Gepard air-defence training to Leopard and Leopard 1 tank expertise, Ukrainian soldiers have gained advanced skills essential for protecting their skies, infrastructure, and frontline operations,” the mission’s website describes the training in Germany. The Ukrainian army is also learning to better coordinate artillery or use virtual reality there.
As Federico Favia from the research department of the European organisation for the promotion of cooperation and interoperability between the national armies of the member states of the EU (Finabel) writes in his December 2025 analysis, the EUMAM Ukraine mission can continue to be made more effective and adapted to the changing reality of the war, despite its obvious successes.
“While the Mission primarily trains on military assets manufactured in Germany, the EU countries have exported a variety of equipment to Ukraine from diverse sources, including five different models of battle tanks. This inconsistency hinders training efforts and could be partly alleviated by ensuring greater coordination and unified supervision of EU procurement frameworks and training programmes,” reads one of Favia’s recommendations.
Czech Footprint
Czechia is also helping with the training in several ways. Directly on Czech territory (the so-called stationary part), the main focus is on basic preparation of Ukrainian soldiers, but also “training specialists in engineering, medical, precision shooting, protection against weapons of mass destruction, and the use of unmanned systems.”
There are also mobile teams that travel to the territory of other EU states (the so-called mobile part). The mobile training module operates in Poland and, since last year, also in Germany. These teams focus on the same tasks as the stationary part, but additionally participate in “training focused on complex tasks in unknown terrain, urban areas, and trench systems.”
“Mobile teams and groups usually deploy to the areas for five weeks and then return to the Czech Republic to restore forces and maintain equipment and materials. They then deploy again to train further groups of Ukrainian soldiers,” explains the Czech Ministry of Defence.
The last form of Czech involvement is the so-called task forces, which change every year. The core of the current task force is the 15th Engineer Regiment from the city Bechyně, supplemented by soldiers from the 43rd Airborne Regiment in Chrudim, specialists in protection against weapons of mass destruction from the 31st Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Regiment in Liberec, and unmanned systems specialists from the 53rd Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Regiment.
“Individual members are also contributed by other components across the army. A very important part of the task force are also interpreters from the ranks of the Czech Army soldiers, without whom the training would not be possible,” adds the Czech ministry.
The Future Plan
In the second half of last year, discussions began about further expanding the EUMAM Ukraine assistance mission. In addition to help with border monitoring, assistance for war veterans, or support for cyber resilience, this could mainly involve starting training directly in Ukraine.
As RadioFreeEurope writes, citing a document evaluating the mission’s progress so far, three training centres are already being established in the western part of the war-affected country, but none of them is yet fully operational due to insufficient infrastructure and the absence of qualified instructors from abroad.
If the mission does expand to Ukrainian territory, it will only happen after a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow is declared. As the head of EU diplomacy Kaja Kallas pointed out in the fall, the EU states, which must unanimously approve the mandate changes, have not yet agreed on how to proceed. While one group wants to wait for a ceasefire before approving changes, the other calls for starting preparations now and launching the new form of the mission immediately after Ukraine and Russia “reconcile.” The presence of foreign instructors could then serve as one of the strongest security guarantees for Kyiv.
“Broadening the mandate of the Mission to train Ukrainian soldiers on their own soil, as recently proposed by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, would send a strong signal of unwavering support,” believes Federico Favia from the Finabel organization.
As for the most recent information related to the mission, on January 22, a coordination meeting took place within the Operational Force Development Framework (OFDeF), where EU institutions, member states, Ukraine, and international partners met. They discussed priorities such as logistics resilience, force generation, unmanned systems, medical support, and command-and-control effectiveness. The goal was to align support with Ukraine’s current needs and minimize duplications.
