Meet the little-known British-Czech unit training Central and Eastern European troops

As heavy fighting continues in Ukraine, a unique joint British-Czech military unit training soldiers from Eastern and Central Europe is said to be more important than ever.

The British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) in the Czech Republic has run courses for 12,000 students from 45 countries - including 1,200 Ukrainian personnel.

The team's mission is to develop and advise newer NATO members' militaries, as well as partner nations outside the alliance.

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Colonel Paul Morris, Commander BMATT, told Forces News Ukraine has received support from the unit since 2000.

"It's a good assumption that the command and leadership development that we have provided over the years will have had some effect within the Ukrainian armed forces," he added.

BMATT is made up of 19 British and five Czech personnel and is based in South Moravia in the south-east of the Czech Republic.