Switzerland holds large-scale military drills, amid calls to assist Ukraine fight Russian invasion
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- Опубликовано: 8 май 2023
- In one of Switzerland's largest drills in more than three decades, soldiers rehearsed repelling a fictional enemy, tossed grenades and fired live munitions as they showcased self-defense capabilities known as armed neutrality.
The drills, involving 4,000 troops and spread across four cantons over nine days, took place as the country's role in European defense has come into focus amid calls for it to assist Ukraine in fighting the Russian invasion.
At the Les Pradieres shooting range last Thursday (May 4), a group of infantry soldiers, most of whom are in fact civilians taking part in their regular military service, slowly paced up a hill, using a smoke grenade to conceal their movements behind before crouching down to shoot at targets.
The LUX 23 drills, planned since 2021, were not organized in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but the Swiss military said the invasion made the exercise all the more relevant.
"The willingness of our partners and the understanding of the population regarding this kind of drill has greatly changed," Mathias Tuscher, commander of Switzerland's territorial division 1, said of the exercises, which end on Tuesday.
"This, of course, is directly linked [to the war in Ukraine]."
Public and international pressure has grown for Switzerland to end a ban on exports of weapons to war zones, but some political factions fear this would mark the end of its foreign policy tradition of neutrality.
"We understand that people mix up the need to support a country under attack and the need to keep a place for the aggressor, when designated as such, to come talk and find solutions," said Mauro Poggia, state councilor in charge of the Geneva canton's Security, Population and Health Department.
"There is nothing worse than closing doors... Switzerland needs to be this exit door that is always there. This door must be protected...and we need to protect our population."
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#ukraine #russia #war
Exercises are part of the training of our army, as are occasional maneuvers on a larger scale. All of this against the background that our army is basically only there on our soil and to defend and secure our freedom. It is wrong to relate this to Ukraine in any way, because Switzerland is particularly militarily neutral.
It goes without saying that every country attacked has a right to self-defense. So the meaning of the content and the title of the video is not entirely clear to me.
People who say they look goofy or inefficient clearly didn't understand these are recruits, therefore they have served less than 4 months. Of course they are not yet good, that's why they are training.
On top of that, none of these guys are there because they want to. It's mandatory for all swiss males >18
On top of that, none of these guys are there because they want to. It's mandatory for all swiss males >18
The two „blown“ doors at the beginning were really embarrassing. But that's what exercises are for.
recruits
They got the best weapons in the world: bank accounts of dictators, terrorists, politics. They would do fine in any conflict.
In the future Ukraine is going to be built like a fortress .
The problem of Ukraine is its geography. Switzerland is made by 2/3 of mountains. They only selected the Alps as the main fortress during ww2. And that meant abandoning all agriculture and industries. This could have been only a temporary solution...
Ukraine needs whether to be part of nato, or to get the nuclear weapon + 4 nuclear submarines to launch them, and some nuclear attack submarine to protect them.
They can sit this one out if they like but for god's sake stop holding up the ammunition.
them staying neutral in all the major conflicts of late is really showing in this training video 🤣
Yes 🙈
Those are conscripts like the majority of swiss soldiers, it's normal that they are not perfect fighters
They are given training to be able to fight if it's required
While you're American partners have boys wearing a dress after training😮
A little soft. I hope a little training gets them there.
These soldiers are more clumsy than the militia
They are militia
Looks like they might need a little more endurance training and more training in general…..
It's a good thing they presently are surrounded by friendly nations and have a definite terrain advantage.
Fiddler's Green
They are not professional soldiers, and if you had ever been to Switzerland, everything is slopes. There isn't a flat plot bigger than s football pitch.
Dude those are recruits
Recruits
When you have seen combat videos from Ukraine, that intro looked like a parody.
That first group needs some work. 😊❤
Well done. Good reporting. Go Ukraine.
Go russia
Switzerland is Neutral so they won't help Ukraine
wtf the kick :DDD
No to vaccine passports, mandates or lockdowns
And so it begins
Thanks to Switzerland from Ukraine
We appreciate it
Your country will bring ww3 with this actor idiot that's taking tax payers money in his pocket
In what way do they support ukraine? They simply won't.
@@arminkaiser8933 it is our Neutrality, and we The swiss people have voted For It.🇨🇭
@@Hauptmann_Rudolf.Rudi.Winkler I know. But why does he thank switzerland being an ukrainian?
@@arminkaiser8933 We have sanctioned Russia, that's all we can do as a neutral country. We don't want any soldiers from any country to die because of our weapons unless we are attacked ourselves.
Provide the necessary ammunition to Ukraine!! Why doesn't Switzerland??
Neutrality
cheers to Swiss partners ! slava Ukraini !
What a laugh.....😅🤣😂🙃
recruits
There must be no baseball played in Switzerland the way theses chaps throw grenades.
recruits
No hustle and no strategy
How do french and german speaking swiss soldiers communicate?
dont forget italian
We learn at least 2 of the Swiss languages, for me it was 3 Swiss languages + English.
In the end, it's the same as NATO who needs to deal with several languages.
Switzerland is based on civilian military service. The military terms anyway need to be learned. Depending on where the service is realized, and where the majority of people come from, this will be the main language. And then, when learning at the beginning, for the ones who struggle, there are people that roughly translate the orders / the explanation.
For the documents received, they usually exist in 3 of the national languages.
P.S. you forgot Italian and Rumantsch in the languages list !
All speak German 😂
@@dv2045 And Romanish
0:29 LoL 😂
Didn't know Switzerland had an army...
Guess being non-NATO, they can get involved without being inflammatory
Switzerland has obligatory military service for all of its citizens. Neutral yes but if someone thinks its unprotected makes a big mistake.
Nope, not at all.
Switzerland is a neutral country ! The army is purely a defensive army, it doesn't get involved in any conflict. It sometimes participate to peace keeping missions (North / South Korea DMZ, Sahara / Morocco, Lebanon / Israel, Kosovo).
Switzerland is an army, all men have to go to the military service. It has been so for a long time. And since WW2, the country became a complete fortress. There are military bunkers everywhere, thousands of km of galleries in the mountains, underground bases, guns camouflaged in the mountains and in the countryside (those used to cover 100% of the territory, most have been retired but could be reactivated).
Switzerland has been able to remain neutral thanks to its army. Not that it's the best. But as Switzerland is neutral, therefore not a threat, but without an army, it would have been overrun by Germany and Italy during WW2. And the Army was powerful enough, the geography favorable for defensive positions, and the army well prepared, so much so that the cost would have been enormous for the invader. The risk calculation was therefore obvious, attacking Switzerland wouldn't make sense.
After WW2, the fear of soviet invasions was real. The Eastern block wasn't that far (Western Germany, Austria and Italy were the buffer zone). So in order to protect itself in case of an attack, strong military were necessary. And civilians had to build bunkers in all houses and apartment buildings to protect itself against a nuclear attack, a bombing, nuclear fallout.
Switzerland used to be one of the most ready defensive country on earth militarily.
The Swiss Army hasn't even been in a good bar fight in a couple of centuries!
That’s because they’ve made sure they don’t need to. It’s surrounded by larger countries that haven’t taken them yet. Why is that?
I trained in the military for 3 years in Korea. Swiss army training is really serious, I don't think it will help at all in real combat.
Not with nukes 1 sec boom
@@clintvan9715 Korea is a non-nuclear country We have protected our country from great powers like China and Russia and rogue states like North Korea, and the use of nuclear weapons is a weapon of mutual self-destruction, but we can defeat the invaders with the will and courage of the people based on strong defense!
I commend the strong will and courage of the Swiss Army and pray for peace.
Rip Switzerland
Why the whole country is a natural fortress unlike Belgium.
The population is allowed armed their army is trained and well equipped the mountains are covered with underground bunkers redoubts and stockpiles and every bridge has built in explosives.
Rip ur country 😂😂
Funny that as loads of international criminal money is in Switzerland. They are good at protecting that
Do I hear a little envy?
I agree! Just look at all the banking scandals. Switzerland is soft, corrupt and pathetically isolationist! They should pray that their isolationism keeps them protected. But on the other hand, they could probably buy off any enemy!
yeah keep playing the angel.. your government does that too.. you are probably from the Us
@@karlpolak6027what is wrong with you
Switzerland should give frozen russian money to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦😠😠
No
Nein das gehört jetzt uns..❤
Kinda looks like they put this army together just yesterday.
You have to take into account that they might have come to service only a few days ago. We are a militia army. We have normal jobs and only 3-4 weeks of military service every 1-2 years. After a few weeks we would also be really ready.
That’s what I thought. They should of made that door out of paper to they gave that soldier a chance.
Switzerland first establishment already happen before Columbus found America by accident. Read some history books. They r mostly recruits as well looks like... and from the Swiss French part, they always a bit legere😂
@@michaelhermann4213after a few weeks you think! It takes months to train a soldier up to a fighting standard
@@mickfielding9372 That's why they go into service for 3-4 weeks every year. After the initial 18-week basic training, they were pretty much at that level. After that it's quicker.
It’s a drone and artillery war, Ukraine should have told them
Recruits!!!
Switzerland was freed from neutrality and join the fight
lol no
Switzerland needs to stand with its western partners!
nah we good
no
Yes it does! It's natural to stand with the people that share your borders and values!@@prophetrexlexful8783
I'm of Swiss Decent and I'm 57 years old and I think I can move with more agility and speed than these guys
They are from the french part.Romandie.
A french swiss explained to me that they give normaly about 50% of what german and italian swiss do.
Except when it affects their leave then they give 300%.
Dear romands…not my words but a gentlemen from geneva who said that to me.
From my experience with romance it has a bit of truth in it.
these are recruits
Look like that’s the first time this guys are training.
They are conscripts and have 18 weeks of training and 3 to 4 weeks every year in the army. We are civilians, not professionals
Swiss must withhold all russian assets for Ukraine reconstruction and send any weapon required to Ukraine. Neutrality does not mean watching on the sidelines
thats exactly what it means lol
Dellusional bot lmao, Switzerland has been neutral since forever, its their Position, why should they pick a side? Should they have Armed iraq when the US wrongfully attacked under wrong suspicion? Use ur brain and not ur Feelings kid
So what does it mean ?
@@SMILYSUNFLOWER no you wont what? Hold russian money or sit on the sideline?
yes it does.. thanks we are good here
ごきぶりスイスは動けない。
Switzerland must help the Ukraine much more.
😂😂😂😂😂
WW3 coming
Go Switzerland go with God
Грозные войска)
They look like Pancho Villa's army. War is something else, they don't even last twenty-four hours alive. War is not a joke. They haven't fought for centuries
Yeah, that's about what we look like. But have you seen the equipment? Even we would leave a different impression after a few weeks of war. See Ukraine. In the beginning, our technique and good preparation would compensate for some weaknesses.
It's a conscript army, at the end of the day when you are a small country you can't afford to have a large professional army so your best bet is to train your civilians to be able to fight, it's better than nothing
You know a lot about war. Ever been to one?😂
Weak. They should go to Ukraine to have proper lessons from the magnificent Ukrainian defense Warriors.
these are recruits
Please set a good example and go to Ukraine yourself. Before you have completed basic training of course.
These guys can join Wagner for meat
Looks like they really need the training, being neutral for a very long time is showing. 🤭
😂
The swiss have an army!? When did this happen?
Literally everyone in Switzerland is part of the national service at some point and they keep their rifles and ammo at home in sealed boxes (not the rifle in a box, that's cleaned weekly.).
In the middle ages!
Have you ever heard of the swiss army knife?
Bullies
Ex British Soldier. My Transport Regiment would be more then a match for these people to slow no fire power to much bunching. All British Troops are Soldiers 1st. This lot need some more training.
The swiss r marcksman since more then hundred years, and have some of the accurate assault rifles and shot on daily issues on 300 meters without a scope... And bullseye. Good luck with your company. LOL
recruits
Need more train, so amateur!!!!!!!
You just cant be NEUTRAL when evil comes - that is - you can - but then you will be a Swiss clown - or maybe a Swedish one
Why are they speaking french I thought this was switzerland
About a third of Switzerland is French speaking. It is one of four languages used, plus English.
Are you aware that 4 languages are spoken in switzerland?
About time Switzerland got off the fence. Now allow your 30 mm Geppard ammunition to be forwarded to Ukraine for their air defense of their innocent civilians.
Nah
False Neutrality.
🤦♂️
Oof