Ukrainian chaplains complete British Army training in Wiltshire

160 chaplains have joined the Ukrainian Army's command structure since it was formally established in 2021

Ukrainian military chaplains have completed spiritual training with the British Army in the first course of its kind to be held in this country.

The two-week programme run by the Royal Army Chaplains' Department took place at a camp near Warminster, Wiltshire.

An initial 10 participants took part in the training, which included how to deliver pastoral care to soldiers.

Lt Dmytro Povorotnyi, from Dnipro, said: "It's not just about weapons and rockets, it's about spiritual support."

Ukrainian chaplains were given guidance on how to deliver pastoral care and spiritual support

The Ukrainian chaplains also learned how to give spiritual support and moral guidance to soldiers on the battlefield.

Coming from a wide range of faith backgrounds, military chaplains perform duties such as supporting bereaved soldiers and families, leading religious services and providing confidential counselling.

Since 1945, chaplains have served wherever British soldiers have been sent.

Lt Povorotnyi, who decided to become a military chaplain after the occupation of Crimea in 2014, said: "We have the understanding that the umbrella that covers Ukraine, it's our armed forces.

"Our men and women are so strong because they protect Ukraine from the enemies that are so cruel. But even those men and women who are fighting, they also need some protection."

Coming from a wide range of faith backgrounds, military chaplains perform many different duties

Lt Taras Kotsyuba, who has also been a military chaplain since 2014, left his family to support Ukrainian soldiers in the war against Russia.

His wife and their children remain in their hometown near Lviv, in the west of the country.

He said: "I wanted to do something for their future. It's true that I'm a priest and can't carry a weapon, but I can be with the soldiers who couldn't accept the idea of Russian occupation and decided that they had to be a part of that war."

A total of 160 chaplains have joined the Ukrainian army's command structure since it was formally established in 2021.

However, Col Vitali Skrybets, head of the Military Chaplaincy Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said more were needed to give proper support to soldiers.

"We need more than 700 chaplains," he said.

The chaplains will deliver pastoral care for soldiers on the battlefield

Reverend Robin Richardson, a chaplain in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, who helped design and deliver the training to the Ukrainian visitors, said he hoped the course could be delivered to more chaplains.

"These chaplains who we have on the course at the moment are the leading edge of the chaplains' department they've been developing over the last two years."

Maj Gen Andrew Roe CB, chief executive and commandant Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, said the visit by the chaplains offered a "unique opportunity to capitalise on the excellent expertise offered by the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre".