“I manuali NATO non funzionano più.” Perché l’esercito ucraino non è stato addestrato a combattere con i droni nei campi di addestramento polacchi

**Since 2022, servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been trained in training centers in European countries. Poland, in particular, provides its instructors and training sites, where basic and special training of Ukrainian fighters has been underway for almost three years. However, many military personnel who have undergone this training complain that they are preparing for the war of the past without drones – according to NATO scenarios from Iraq and Afghanistan, where drones have not yet been discussed. Only in early October, the first Jomsborg drone test site, built at the expense of Norway, was opened in Poland.**

“Four armored personnel carriers are involved in the defense of the river bank: one of them crosses the bridge to the other bank – this is a crew of scouts,” translator Vitaliy (name changed), who served a rotation with the Ukrainian military in western Poland at the end of 2024, quotes one of the Polish instructors.

“There is a confused silence in the classroom,” he continues. – More than half of the audience are marines who went through the Krynky (operation on the left bank of the Kherson region in 2023. – Ed.). In the end, one of them asks, what if the bridge is destroyed? The Polish instructor proudly answers: “Our armored personnel carriers are swimming.” He did not understand at all that everything was controlled by enemy drones, which would leave nothing from those armored personnel carriers that sail up to 10 km/h.”

This dialogue between the instructor and the Marines is only part of the big picture, which has everything – NATO, textbooks and charters, elegant barracks and experienced corones, but there is no key element of modern warfare – drones.

“They continue to teach according to the “Grunwald” textbooks,” jokes another BBC interlocutor, referring to the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, a victory in which Polish historians are still proud to this day.

The BBC spoke to the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the interpreters who accompanied them during their training in Poland, and also received comments from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Polish Ministry of Defense.

So what does the situation really look like?

**”Can we remove the mavics?”**

Training in Poland takes place in several areas – in particular, basic training, advanced training, coordination and special training in the use of Western equipment.

The programs include tactics, topography, survival, takmed, fire and assault training, international humanitarian law, etc. – they are conducted mainly by Polish instructors, but some courses are prepared together with trainers from other partner countries.

The battalion commander of one of the assault brigades currently fighting in the Pokrovsk direction, a major with the call sign “Eighteen”, talks about the coordination course that his battalion took place in Poland in 2024.

The vast majority of fighters then had just arrived after the SZVP in Ukraine: for more than 400 people, only a few had combat experience.

Major “Eighteen” himself served in 2013-2014, received military education, and since 2022 has been fighting as part of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade. In 2024, he received a newly formed battalion, which became part of another brigade.

At the beginning of training, recruits were offered to choose from several directions: they could train as marksmen (infantry sniper, shooter at short and medium distances), engineers, UAV operators, and infantry fighting vehicle crew.

The training was conducted by instructors from Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The Czechs were responsible for the Marxmen and engineers, the Poles trained the crews of the infantry fighting vehicles, and the Ukrainians taught tactics.

“The program of the Poles and Czechs follows NATO standards, but I have seen the Ukrainian army among the Poles since the end of 2013,” he says and explains, “Statute Shchyna”, security measures, an instructor walks over each soldier. They taught what our soldier will not really see in battle.”

For example, the battalion commander says, tactical medicine training was based on the rule of the “golden hour” – the standard for evacuating the wounded within 60 minutes, which appeared after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Ukraine, this standard has become a painful irony, because it is impossible to compare the possibilities of evacuation from the sight of dozens of drones with the way it was carried out in the Middle East with the air superiority of the United States. Currently, the wounded have to wait for evacuation for more than one hour, and in some places even more than one day.

“We have one serviceman who was injured at about 8 a.m. – seriously, in the groin area. He could just bleed. But thanks to the fact that we taught him medicine, he made it to the evening – his limb was not even amputated. Therefore, I explained to them (instructors – Ed.) that they should tell the soldier, not just how to apply the tourniquet and tighten it tighter, but about how long it takes, at what time of the year, how much the tourniquet should be lowered,” says “Eighteen”.

The Polish side was also supposed to train UAV operators, but in fact was only able to provide a platform for this, says the major.

“Fortunately, we took 12-15 Maviks, and we had one experienced pilot,” he says.

Jakub (name changed), a Czech instructor and veteran of peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, became most interested in drones. Together with him, “Eighteen” decided to conduct an exercise: Czech paratroopers were supposed to storm the positions of the Ukrainian military. The Maviks were supposed to help them defend themselves.

“After their first assault actions, Jakub came up to me and said: ‘Do you hear, can we remove the Maviks?'” says the major.

“What, Jakub?” he asked back.

“Yes, you just draw us very quickly with your maviks, and we cannot approach you, you find us on the approach to your positions,” the Czech instructor replied.

“I say, Jakub, unfortunately, we are preparing for war.”

**”This is a good platform. Safe”**

“Brass knuckles” is a UAV operator of one of the units currently fighting in the Kharkiv direction. He joined the defense on the third day of the full-scale war – he joined the infantry when he was 21 years old. Since then, he fought in the Kharkiv region, Zaporizhzhia, and took part in the defense of Bakhmut.

“Knuckles” came to Poland at the beginning of 2025 for advanced training – he was supposed to receive the rank of sergeant to lead a platoon.

“After the first week, I already called the commander, told him to take me out of here. I say I’ll take the bus myself and come. It was very unusual,” the fighter recalls and explains that he did not agree with what the Polish instructors taught.

“Knuckle” gives an example: in survival classes, they were shown how to navigate the terrain using paper maps – but in more than 3.5 years of hostilities, he never had to do this, because the military has all the maps in their phones or tablets.

The assault on the trenches and city operations, according to “Knuckles”, are also laid out in accordance with the realities of the wars of 20 years ago.

“They want to fly in tanks and Hummers directly under the trench. Well, we told them that it doesn’t work that way anymore. Now this is not how it is done. You put on a “kikimora” (camouflage suit – Ed.) or an anti-thermal imaging cloak to be as inconspicuous as possible, and go to the position on foot,” he says.

The constant presence of drones in the sky has turned any movement into a mortal threat, and the front line into the so-called “circle zone”, which, according to Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, already reaches at least 10 kilometers. Some military even talk about a 20-kilometer strip being shot at by Russian UAVs.

Because of this, the landing of infantrymen now takes place as far as possible from the positions: enemy drones may not notice single fighters on the way to the dugouts – unlike heavy equipment or military “snags”, characteristic khaki SUVs.

“Knuckles” believes that what Polish instructors could teach was useful for the “staff” military, who made up half of the group. The rest – military with combat experience – according to him, trained the Poles themselves.

“We showed them how to properly storm with a drone. And how much easier it is. They were shocked,” he says, adding that he even received a certificate from the instructors for this.

When asked if there was still something positive in the training in Poland, “Knuckles” thinks about it. In the end, he admits: most of all, he liked to train on his own.

The commander of the assault battalion “Eighteen” does not hesitate to answer:

Well – obviously. NATO countries have training systems in place for the militaries they have (or pretend/intend to have). Ukraine is mix and match of everything, and everything not enough – severely lacking in key aspect NATO doctrine considers paramount: both air superiority and working AA on numerous tiers.

Even the first question “what if drones destroy the IFV” – the answer is: have the section of the front controlled from air, under heavy broadband EW and recon, saturated with AA and plenty of artillery and mortars at the ready to provide fire support and suppression, so it doesn’t happen…

They obviously can’t do that, hence the confusion.

1. Golden hour is from WAY before Iraq/Afghanistan. It’s from Vietnam or even ideas that first appeared in Korea.
2. Experienced soldier syndrome is very real, and the Ukrainian “this is useless for me right now” makes it worse. Take map reading. They’ve never used it. But all it takes is some new jamming or weapon (or an escalation with old school weapons. EMPs are a thing) and it might be the reality they have to deal with, and if they don’t have the fundamentals they’re fucked if that happens.

That why you revise shit.

NATO manuals totally still work when you have air, strategic and material dominance.

This is why the F35s and America’s strategic bombers are so critical. We are collectively screwed on magazine depth.

Drones are very expensive substitutes for tactical intelligence and 155 shells.

That manual is not relevant for Ukraine.

All war manuals have been updated at the newest war: but it has to be experienced by the soldiers for it to be written down by the officers.

I find that this war BOTH progresses AND regresses: they use drones, cyber attacks and ElectroMagnetic Weaponry (to shut off electronic devices) BUT they also use trench warfare like in ww1, and from the very beginning i noted how reality mimicked the RTS computer games: both sides wore also identical uniforms BUT one side put blue tape in arms and helmet, the other one put red tape on – first seen in the computer game Dune 2 or later Command and Conquer. (where the bad guys were red and good ones were blue!)