A multinational military force supporting Ukraine will hold its first major training exercise in Poland under the joint leadership of Britain and France.
Around 2,800 military personnel from ten countries will participate in the drills, named Koalicja, which means alliance in Polish. The exercise will take place on Polish territory from Monday, November 9, to Sunday, November 22.
London and Paris announced the upcoming manoeuvres in a joint statement released on Tuesday. The exercise forms part of the ongoing activities of the Multinational Force for Ukraine, an initiative designated as the MNF-U.
According to the joint statement, the drills aim to evaluate the operational readiness of the participating troops. The training will test the capacity of allied units to move, deploy, and execute military missions under real field conditions.
The deployment brings together armed forces from ten European nations: Belgium, Britain, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.
Participating nations and NATO allies
All ten countries taking part in the Koalicja exercise are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Sweden is the newest member of the defensive alliance among the group, having formally joined NATO in 2024 to end more than two centuries of official military non-alignment.
Poland shares a land border with western Ukraine and has served as a central logistical hub for international aid and allied military equipment since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Britain and France, the two nations leading the upcoming exercise, represent Europe's two nuclear-armed military powers and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Multinational Force for Ukraine
The MNF-U was established in March 2025 and was declared operational during the summer. In military terminology, a multinational force refers to a joint formation composed of military personnel and assets from multiple countries operating under a unified command structure.
London and Paris stated that the multinational force is intended, in theory at least, to deploy following the signing of a ceasefire agreement. Under the framework described in the joint announcement, the force will assist Ukraine in deterring any new Russian attack in the future.
