Summer/Fall 2017
Medical best practices on the battlefield continue to be a priority in Ukraine. Military doctor, Vsevolod Stebliuk, recently travelled to Chernihiv province, to the 169th Training Centre, known as "Desna". The Desna Centre is a division-sized training site for Ukraine's land forces. In other words, it functions as a proving ground for training new military recruits under contract to the Army Forces of Ukraine.
The Centre is home to Training Tank Regiment (military unit Vp-0934, previously 300th Gen. military unit A/1414); the mechanized regiment (military unit 0941, previously 354th dynamo U/ A-1048); the training air artillery regiment (military unit 0946, formerly the 1121nd mu A/3435); training repair and restoration battalion (military unit 0962, formerly 507th airborne vehicle A-1317); the training automobile battalion (military unit 0963, formerly 718th/unit 3838); ground troops' 3rd regiment; and a 2nd separate anti-aircraft artillery training division as well as other units.
The program activities focused on battlefield emergency medical training during simulated attacks and evacuation drills. The training was part of a joint program with the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy aimed at improving the functioning of mobile hospitals.
In addition to using training dummies, the participants of the onsite teaching program also operated on a live pig to practice specific surgical techniques.
In addition to medical training programs, the Desna Training Centre primarily hosts field exercises and other recruit training. In October of 2017, the Centre was the site of various artillery competitions involving mortar units, self-propelled howitzers, etc.
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