A France-trained force aims to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses at a critical point in war

Associated Press

A FRENCH MILITARY BASE, France (AP) — A French military task force with the festive name “Champagne” is wrapping up a mission that’s no party. It has been training a new brigade of several thousand Ukrainian troops who will soon be joining the fight against Russia’s invasion. They will be equipped with France-supplied tanks, artillery canons and other heavy weaponry. The approaching return to Ukraine of the “Anne of Kyiv” brigade after more than two months of intense training in eastern and southern France comes at another critical juncture in the almost three-year war. Observation drones buzzed overhead amid clouds of smoke and bursts of gunfire. Ukrainian soldiers showed this week at a French military camp how they have learned to defend and storm trenches like those in Ukraine.