Britain sends crack troops into Ukraine

Special forces help train snipers and saboteurs

MORE than 100 members of Britain’s elite special forces have been sent to Ukraine amid fears a Russian invasion is imminent.

Crack troops from the

SAS, the SBS, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support group are understood to be working in the country as military advisers.

They are believed to be helping train Ukrainian special forces in counter-insurgency tactics, sniping and sabotage.

British special forces have been able to deploy such a large number to the region as they are no longer operating in Afghanistan.

Although the SAS and SBS are still in Syria and Iraq, the numbers of troops there are believed to be relatively small.

A source said: “UK special forces have been deployed to the region to help and advise the Ukrainian military. They have a wide skill set which will no doubt be very useful to the Ukrainian forces.”

At least 1,500 winter-trained British troops are also now based in Estonia, which borders Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia has started equipping dozens of military field hospitals close to its border with Ukraine, fuelling fears of an imminent invasion

Intelligence sources say doctors, nurses and medical supplies – including thousands of litres of blood and plasma – have arrived in the region, where fighting would be the most intense. Russia now has more than 100,000 troops massed on its border with Ukraine, along with 1,000 tanks and hundreds of armoured personnel carriers.

Experts believe President Putin’s generals plan to increase the number of troops in the coming days.

Russian special forces called Spetsnaz have also arrived in the region, along with a special police unit called the Rosgvardia, which is trained in counterinsurgency missions and operates just behind advancing troops.