Maxim Golosnoy has called for changes to oversight of firearms training in Ukraine’s Armed Forces, including spot checks of combat capability, recorded shooting results and requirements for commanders to address identified shortcomings.

Maxim Golosnoy argues that a qualitatively new approach to reforming Ukraine’s Armed Forces should begin with an honest assessment of the actual state of training. He proposes spot checks of combat capability in units, for example those being reconstituted, and attending a full live-fire exercise held by a typical infantry or support unit.

The main thing in a qualitatively new approach to reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not to lie to ourselves.

Максим Голосной

Golosnoy says that if more than 50% of the personnel in such a unit shoot unsatisfactorily at a stationary target from 100 metres, the commander should receive a severe reprimand and time to remedy the situation. He also says that for many years Ukraine’s Armed Forces have not officially identified or rewarded the best marksman in each platoon, company, battalion, brigade and corps on the basis of scheduled firing results.

As an example of what he describes as problems in current practice, he cited a support-force battalion where, he said, full live-fire exercises for officers and sergeants were held only once during the year and actual results were not recorded. Golosnoy also said that Russia has already begun comprehensively overhauling its approach to training the average infantry soldier, through more advanced personnel training and the mandatory fitting of small arms with pre-zeroed standard-issue collimator sights.