チャールズ国王、英軍によるウクライナ兵訓練を視察

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】チャールズ英国王は２０日、南西部ウィルトシャー州で英軍から塹壕（ざんごう）戦の訓練を受けているウクライナ兵を視察した。（写真はウクライナ兵の訓練を視察し、握手をするチャールズ国王）
　ロシアのウクライナ侵攻開始から１年になる２４日を前に英軍は先週、半年間で１万人のウクライナ兵を訓練する目標を達成したと発表。ウクライナ兵は２００人ずつ、５週間の基礎戦闘訓練に参加している。今年はさらに２万人が訓練を受ける予定だ。
　訓練の指揮はニュージーランド出身のトニー・ハリス陸軍少佐が執っている。チャールズ国王はニュージーランド軍関係者と、同国の先住民マオリ式のあいさつを交わし激励した。
　ハリス少佐はチャールズ国王に、ウクライナ紛争では、１００年以上前の第１次世界大戦の特徴の一つだった塹壕戦が行われていると説明。「ウクライナ軍は実に頑強に防衛している」と語った。
　ウクライナのウォロディミル・ゼレンスキー大統領は今月訪英し、バッキンガム宮殿でチャールズ国王と会見。ウクライナからの避難民受け入れに謝意を示していた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/02/21-12:42）

Britain's King Charles III on Monday went to view Ukrainian soldiers receiving training in trench warfare in southwest England, as Russia's large-scale invasion of its western neighbour nears the one-year mark.
British forces announced last week that they had reached a target to train 10,000 Ukrainian troops in six months, giving often inexperienced soldiers skills they can use on the front line.
The monarch went to the training site in Wiltshire in central England, where 200 troops are completing five weeks of basic combat training under Tony Harris, an army major from New Zealand.
Charles exchanged a traditional Maori greeting with one of the troops involved, who comes from New Zealand.
The monarch and the burly man in camouflage pressed together their noses and foreheads, a greeting called the hongi.
Charles also watched troops learning how to storm a trench during a gun battle.
He told a senior Ukrainian officer: You are amazing. I don't know how you do it. I am full of admiration.
Harris said he and Charles had talked about the fact that in Ukraine they've returned to trench warfare, a type of fighting most synonymous with World War I more than a century ago.
Because of the really stout defence the Ukrainians have put in... the large part of holding the line is digging in and preparing for the worst, Harris said.
A further 20,000 Ukrainians are set to train in the UK this year.
Charles met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Buckingham Palace when the wartime leader visited London earlier this month.
Zelensky thanked Charles for his warm welcome and for supporting Ukrainian citizens who have taken refuge from the war.