Soldiers scramble through trenches under a haze of yellow smoke, machine gunfire booms across the fields, invisible drones buzz overhead and voices scream in Ukrainian "Watch out!" The scene could be 3,

The approaching return to Ukraine of the “Anne of Kyiv” brigade, after more than two months of intense military training in eastern and southern France, comes at another critical juncture in the almost three-year war.

France's "Champagne" task force focuses on advanced combat tactics, trench warfare and coordination with artillery and tanks.

Ukrainian soldiers from the Anna of Kyiv Brigade of Ukraine's Armed Forces have completed a training course in France. [Anna of Kyiv was a princess of Kyivan Rus who became Queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I - ed.