Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
The number of British personnel working on an international training program for Ukrainian soldiers has fallen by more than 1,000 in the last 2.5 years, new figures reveal.
The decline marks a 73 per cent reduction in the UK staffing of the British-led Operation Interflex that has trained over 51,000 Ukrainian soldiers to resist Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
It comes as Britain and its European allies scramble to bolster their own defences amid mounting pressure from Donald Trump and stark warnings about their defence capabilities.
Responding to a written parliamentary question by Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Helen Maguire, the government disclosed that the number of British staff supporting the operation has dropped by 1,020 since June 2022, when there were 1,389 UK members of staff.
As of January 2025, there were just 369 UK personnel working on the programme, the government’s own data revealed.
The data includes those assigned to Interflex HQ, the training delivery units and logistical support.
But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) stressed that there has been a significant increase in support from the other twelve countries involved in the programme, meaning fewer UK staff are required. They also argued that the UK has been “able to make efficiencies as the operation has developed”.
In his response, Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard also pointed out that “UK personnel numbers alone do not represent output of total personnel”, adding that Albania will join the scheme from the end of the month.
At present, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Lithuania, Australia, Romania, Netherlands, Kosovo and Estonia all support the training programme.
The vast majority of cuts occurred under the Conservative government – with the steepest decline occurring between July 2023 and January 2024, when staffing for Operation Interflex was cut by 882 personnel.
But Labour has failed to reverse the trend with staffing numbers having dropped by 59 since they won a historic election victory in July 2024.
The Liberal Democrats said the stark decline in UK numbers was “deeply concerning”, and urged Mr Pollard to “urgently explain why cuts to staff numbers for this vital programme have not been reversed”.
Ms Maguire told The Independent: “The cuts exposed by these stats are deeply concerning.
“As we can no longer count on the US under Trump to help Ukraine, the UK needs to lead from the front in supporting their resistance against Putin’s barbarism. That means investing more in critical initiatives like Operation Interflex, not less.
“The Labour government has failed to reverse Conservative cuts, even as a war rages on our continent. The armed forces minister must urgently explain why cuts to staff numbers for this vital programme have not been reversed.
“Labour needs to take British and European defence seriously.”
But the MoD said any suggestion that the UK’s support for Ukraine has declined is “completely untrue”.
It comes amid growing concern over the state of the armed forces after years of cuts, and mounting pressure on European allies, including Britain, to spend more on defence following the election of President Trump in the US.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer said Britain would hike defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 with a further ambition to hit 3 per cent by the early 2030s.
European leaders gathered in Paris last week to thrash out their response to the US president’s rapidly shifting position on Ukraine, amid fears Washington will cut its transatlantic defence commitments.
The emergency summit was called after Mr Trump announced his plan to sideline Europe by holding Ukraine peace talks directly with Mr Putin.
The US president’s position also triggered warnings from military figures, including former defence secretary Ben Wallace, who said the UK will have to “step up to fill the void in Europe and show our own leadership”, arguing that the US’s domestic agenda could embolden hostile actors.
In total, the UK has committed £12.8bn for Ukraine since the war broke out, with Britain providing £4.5bn this year alone – more than ever before.
In recent days, Sir Keir also publicly backed Mr Zelensky as “Ukraine’s democratically elected leader” and said there can be no discussions about Ukraine without Ukraine after Mr Trump branded him a dictator and begun peace talks with Russia which sidelined Kyiv.
Responding to Ms Maguire, an MoD spokesperson said: “These claims are completely untrue and do not stand up to even the most basic scrutiny – the UK continues to step up support for Ukraine.
“We are proud that Operation Interflex has trained more than 52,000 Ukrainian personnel on UK soil and that the 13th partner nation, Albania, joined recently.
“As more partner nations have joined, it has reduced the need for the number of UK personnel. We have also been able to make efficiencies as the operation has developed.
“The Defence Secretary has also confirmed that the UK will continue training Ukrainian recruits in this country until at least the end of 2025.”
