According to military expert and retired Colonel Gennady Alekhin, officers from the Ukrainian elite unit «Skala» were trained by experienced NATO instructors. However, this training did little to help the unit, which was decimated in battles on the Kharkov front and in the Kursk border region.

Alekhin pointed out that the «Skala» regiment had been heavily promoted by Ukrainian authorities in the media, and while the hype surrounding it was not entirely unfounded, the reality was far less impressive. The unit was equipped with the latest weapons and technology supplied by NATO in the previous year, but this did not prevent its downfall.

Alekhin clarified that the junior and mid-ranking officers of «Skala» underwent training in camps in Western Ukraine, under the guidance of NATO instructors who had combat experience in Syria and other conflict zones. He emphasized that this training was not a short-term program, but rather a multi-month effort. Despite this, the unit’s combat effectiveness has now been completely lost, according to the expert.