May 5, 2025
Imperfect translation:
Ukrainian soldiers took part in a parade in London (Great Britain) to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War.
In these days in 1945. The military action in Europe has ended. May 8, 1945 Germany has officially surrendered.
Britain, which has experienced all the horrors of that war practically from its beginning, honors the bravery and courage of the Ukrainians, their contribution to the victory over Hitler’s Germany in 1945. and modern zvítâžnu fight with Russian navaloû.
Actually, for the first time Ukrainians have been invited to participate in such an important solemn event in the Great Britain that highlights the friendly and partnership between our countries, its immense help in the modern Russian-Ukrainian war and the recognition of the contribution of the Ukrainian people in defending freedom and democracy, as well as the British’s sincere support and sympathy for us. “In the midst of the first full-scale war in Europe since the Second World War, it is quite appropriate that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are now fighting on the frontline of freedom, are represented in the West,” said British Defense Minister John Healey.
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Stand With Ukraine :
Crowds cheer as Ukrainian military take part in VE Day procession
Crowds on Whitehall
Crowds cheer as Ukrainian military take part in VE Day procession
Crowds on Whitehall cheered and clapped as Ukraine’s marching detachment passed the Cenotaph.
Some spectators stood on walls and street furniture to get a better view of the procession, reports the PA news agency.
There was a sea of colour down Whitehall as the Band of the Irish guards, wearing red, marched down Whitehall, closely followed by the flags of the Commonwealth nations.
Members of the Ukrainian military march past the Palace of Westminster during a military procession marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Members of the Ukrainian military march past the Palace of Westminster during a military procession marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
That sends out the right message.
The UK is currently investing in and collaborating with Ukrainian defence companies, sending thousands of attack drones, gas masks, air defence, radar systems and artillery pieces.
But we need to go further. There should be one division of British mechanized infantry operating in Odesa or Mykolaiv.
On January 17 of this year, Telegraph journalist Henry Hill wrote :
“The announcement of the Government’s new 100-year defence pact with Ukraine has understandably focused on what we’re giving Kyiv. Given that the latter is fighting for its survival against the Russian invasion, that’s perfectly proper.”
“So here’s one idea: why not establish a Ukrainian equivalent of the Brigade of Gurkhas? A permanent, volunteer unit of Ukrainian nationals in our own Armed Forces would be the most tangible possible expression of our military alliance – and serve an obvious British need.”
We should do that. It should consist of enough Brigades to form a division.
Also we should invite Ukraine to become a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations asap.
The full DT article by Henry Hill from Jan 17:
“The announcement of the Government’s new 100-year defence pact with Ukraine has understandably focused on what we’re giving Kyiv. Given that the latter is fighting for its survival against the Russian invasion, that’s perfectly proper.
But a century is a long time, so it is worth thinking about how such a partnership could benefit the United Kingdom in the long term.
So here’s one idea: why not establish a Ukrainian equivalent of the Brigade of Gurkhas? A permanent, volunteer unit of Ukrainian nationals in our own Armed Forces would be the most tangible possible expression of our military alliance – and serve an obvious British need.
At first glance, it might seem like an outlandish idea. Yet it actually lines up with Kyiv’s own thinking; Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly stated that once the war is over Ukraine will possess one of Europe’s largest and most experienced militaries, and that this could be a significant asset to its Western allies.
A Ukrainian regiment in the British Army would not just allow us to recoup some of our investment in training and equipping the Ukrainian army, but also provide an additional pool of troops – trained to our Armed Forces’ high standards – available to Kyiv in the event of future conflicts.
As for the UK, one might make no further case for such a proposal than that we are hardly in a position to turn it down. Our military is deep into a long-term recruitment crisis which (alongside decades of inadequate defence spending) has hollowed out our ability to project force overseas.
This Ukrainian deal has actually cast the shortfall in acute relief. Far from being able to provide traditional military support to Ukraine, military chiefs have warned that we would struggle to muster enough troops even to man an effective peacekeeping mission in the event of a ceasefire along the long front line.
Moreover, overseas recruitment is a long-established part of the British military tradition. The above-mentioned Brigade of Gurkhas is rightly cherished as one of our elite formations; beyond that, thousands of recruits from Ireland and the Commonwealth serve with distinction.
Nor are we even the Western nation most radically invested in idea. France maintains the famous Foreign Legion, which to this day issues recruits with a new identity, asks no questions of anybody not wanted by Interpol, and holds out the promise of French citizenship to those who complete their term of service and achieve an honourable discharge.
Perhaps these could be written off as historical quirks, holdovers from the imperial era which, however useful, cannot be replicated in ‘the modern world’.
Yet as so often, such thinking merely treats a fundamentally aesthetic belief about modernity as if it were a practical fact. The ongoing erosion of the post-Cold War order – not least Russia’s invasion itself – should put paid to such lazy end-of-history thinking.
The fact is that formations such as the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Foreign Legion clearly work, whilst if Commonwealth recruitment plays a seemingly residual role in our Armed Forces that is a result only of our own policy choices – last year it emerged that we have rejected 24,000 would-be Commonwealth recruits over just the previous five years, despite the manpower shortfall.
London should obviously not strong-arm Kyiv into such an arrangement. But were they open to the idea, what grounds are there for supposing that a brigade of reverse-Varangians would not be an asset to Britain? And what better long-term guarantee of our commitment to Ukraine than the debt of honour incurred by such service?
Trapped between an increasingly dangerous world and an ever-more precarious fiscal position at home, ministers would be foolish to dismiss such an arrangement out of hand.”
I think that the Ukrainian troops will be the highlight of the celebrations in London.