Before the war, the Yavoriv military base was essential for NATO training of Ukrainian troops; after the invasion it had become a logistical hub for foreign fighters. All the details
On Sunday, March 13, the Russian aggression on Ukraine experienced a shift towards the west, an area of ​​the country generally less affected by the fighting than the east and south, which have so far been the focus of the military operation .
In addition to the bombing of the Ivano-Frankivsk airport, the most impressive attack was the one on the military base of Yavoriv (or Javorov): both for the number of dead, thirty-five, and of wounded, over one hundred and thirty; and because the structure is located just 25 kilometers away from the border with Poland, a member state of the European Union and NATO. THE RUSSIAN AND UKRAINE VERSIONS
The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack on the base destroyed a large amount of armaments supplied to Ukraine by foreign governments and killed “up to one hundred and eighty foreign mercenaries”.
Ukraine reported thirty-five victims, and no mention is made of foreign individuals in its communiqués. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that foreign military instructors work in the facility, but it is not clear if they were present at the time of the bombing.
It is impossible to verify the veracity of the statements of both sides: Russia has an interest in presenting a high estimate on the victims to weaken the morale of the Ukrainian resistance; Ukraine, on the other hand, has an interest in insisting on the possible presence of NATO soldiers to obtain the entry into the war of the Atlantic alliance or greater supplies of armaments. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE MILITARY BASE OF YAVORIV
Of course, as Reuters also reports, we know that the Yavoriv military base (formally known as the Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security) had previously hosted NATO military instructors.
As specified by the alliance itself, there are no NATO personnel in Ukraine.
The Yavoriv facility covers an area of ​​360 square kilometers and is therefore one of the largest military bases in Ukraine, as well as the largest in the western portion of the country. In the past, military exercises have been held there between Ukraine and NATO. It was also fundamental for the training of Ukrainian troops who participated in UN peacekeeping missions in Africa or in other parts of Europe. FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN YAVORIV
On March 3, a Ukrainian official told Reuters that the Yavoriv base played a central role in welcoming foreign volunteers who came to Ukraine to fight alongside the armed forces and civil resistance. From Yavoriv, ​​they were later distributed to other military posts in the country.
Foreign fighters in Ukraine come mainly – at least so Roman Shepelyak, an official from Lviv, a city close to the Yavoriv base, told Reuters a few days ago – from Poland, Holland and the United Kingdom. These are people who have joined the war in a personal capacity, and not sent by their respective countries or their representatives. The British government, for example, has asked its citizens not to travel to Ukraine to participate in the clashes.UP TO A THOUSAND FOREIGN FIGHTERS
The Russian invasion of Ukraine transformed the Yavoriv military base from a link between the Ukrainian and NATO armed forces into a logistics center for foreign fighters.
As reported by the New York Times, the facility served as a training post for about a thousand foreign fighters who joined Ukraine in resisting Russia.
Before the war, however, the base hosted US, British, Canadian, Polish and Latvian troops (and others) for the training of the Ukrainian army. The last few foreign military instructors, mostly Americans (the Florida State National Guard, for example) and Canadians, were there until a few days before the invasion.
