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Ukrainian Catholic Bishop of the United Kingdom Reverand Kenneth Nowakowski blesses with holy water the Ukraine Army recruits after they took part in a training session called "The battle of Innoculation training" with members of Britain's and other international partners's armed forces personnel, at a Ministry of Defence (MOD) training base in southern England on June 20, 2023. More than 17,000 Ukrainian recruits have been trained by Britain and other allies over the last year to help Kyiv fight Russia's invasion, the UK Ministry of Defence said on June 26, 2023. The recruits, from many different walks of life, all went through a "gruelling" five-week programme which the ministry said had transformed them "from civilians to soldiers". Britain and nine partner nations -- Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania and The Netherlands -- opened the initiative for new volunteer recruits to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in June last year. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) (KEYSTONE/AFP/HENRY NICHOLLS)