By John Irish
CHAMPAGNE, France (Reuters) - 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 3,000 km (1,860 miles) away in Ukraine's Donbas region, but instead some 2,000 Ukrainian conscripts and veterans are training in the muddy fields of France's eastern Marne region, where French and German armies once hammered each other during World War 1.
The initiative is part of a European Union-funded programme that has already prepared 60,000 Ukrainians for the front lines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
For this training the French military has tried to recreate the conditions faced by the Ukrainian forces back home, while training them on the equipment that France is providing.
This includes 128 armoured vehicles for troop movements and reconnaissance, Caesar howitzers, anti-tank missile units, surface-to-air missiles and battlefield radars.
The Anne of Kyiv brigade - named after a princess who married French King Henri I in 1051 in nearby Reims cathedral - has been training in France since September, and in the next 10 days will head to Poland before being dispatched to the front.
French officials say Ukraine needs as many as 15 new highly trained, battle-ready brigades, especially amid uncertainty over future Western military aid following the victory of Donald Trump - a strong critic of such aid - in the U.S. elections.
'WAR FOR OUR EXISTENCE'
Most of the Ukrainians being trained here only joined the army a month before coming to France, while about 10% are veterans. Their average age is 38 but some are as old as 50.
Those who spoke to Reuters sounded apprehensive but determined to defend their country.
"Fear is part of war. For us it's a war for our existence and survival," said Colonel Dmytro Rymschyn, 38, who heads the Anne of Kyiv brigade.
"We will soon go back to our native land and our brigade will show its competence. I believe in our victory."
Mykhailo, 50, who left a chemical factory to join the army, was trained to lead an AMX light tank squadron.
When asked whether he hoped the war could end by year-end, he smiled awkwardly: "The hope is that it finishes before we have to go back."
French officials said the current trainees, despite many being civilians, were learning quickly and were showing how Ukraine's army can adapt despite shortages on the ground.
After nine weeks of training, the Ukrainians were now able, for example, to repel an attack on their trenches and to mount a counter-attack.
French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu told reporters France hoped to prepare more such troops in coming months.
"There is a certain human element to all of this," he added. "There is an exchange with people here who in several weeks will be in a combat situation on the frontline and some of them may well lose their lives."