1. Home
  2.  » 
  3. Russia
  4.  » 
  5. Ukraine
  6.  » UK Special Forces on standby to join Ukraine peacekeeping force

Introduction – March 23, 2025

Nothing better illustrates the Anglo-French deception than their putting Special Forces on standby for a “peacekeeping” mission.

That’s because Special Forces troops are not optimized to carry out peacekeeping duties. Special Forces troops are trained and equipped to operate behind enemy lines. On operations such as the sabotage of high value targets like command and control centres. Or guiding air strikes in on vital transport corridors.

Throughout the history of Special Forces units they have been used for reconnaissance, to disrupt enemy operations behind the lines, or the take out highly guarded high value targets.

To use highly trained Special Forces personnel in the more pedestrian role as peacekeepers would be an absolute waste of a valuable resource.

That’s why their use as “peacekeepers” calls into question the real objective behind the Anglo-French operation.

Do western military planners really intend to use Special Forces personnel as “peacekeepers”? Or are troops from units like the SAS simply being sent into the conflict zone in the guise of “peacekeepers” in order to get behind Russian lines and disrupt Russian operations?

Either way, Putin has already rejected any suggestion of NATO troops being deployed in Ukraine. So why are Starmer and Macron still harping on the idea of a “coalition of the willing” if they are not seeking military confrontation with Russia?

UK Special Forces on standby to join Ukraine peacekeeping force

Richard Holmes – The i Paper March 18, 2025

British Special Forces have been put on standby to head to Ukraine as part of the UK’s peacekeeping mission as an agreement over a ceasefire edge closer, The i Paper can reveal.

Special Forces units were told to prepare for mobilisation to Ukraine by military planners tasked with readying forces by the Cabinet Office, according to two military sources with knowledge of the directive.

The command centre for UK military planning, the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), was sent directives last week to begin the process for the deployment of personnel and resources.

The orders, which also applied to Special Forces reservists, put personnel on standby in order to ensure military equipment is in working order before receiving a notice to mobilise to Ukraine.

A decision to put key troops on standby comes as Britain prepares to host military chiefs from a group of countries ready to support a ceasefire agreement with Russia. On Saturday, Sir Keir Starmer said plans to put a peacekeeping force in Ukraine have now entered an “operational phase”.

Enforcing the peace

Military experts have said that while UK Special Forces are not a traditional peacekeeping unit, their ability to be deployed rapidly, along with their expertise in intelligence and reconnaissance, make them an ideal tool to spearhead the “coalition of the willing”.

Marco Wyss, professor of international history and security at Lancaster University, said that unpredictability of how any ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine will materialise plays into the hands of the “agile” UK Special Forces, who could be “rapidly deployed” to spearhead a peacekeeping force.

He said: “Its very difficult at this stage without knowing what sort of peace needs to be kept. A lot of this will be contingency planning, what can be done rapidly, and the quickest tool at the disposal of 10 Downing Street is the Special Forces.

“They are good at reconnaissance, they can function in a very agile way, to extricate, to protect important sites.”

Professor Wyss added that this will not be a traditional peace deal, but a temporary ceasefire, and any peacekeeping force could be used to enforce terms between Ukraine and Russia. The potential for “greyzone” attacks – operations launched when two countries are neither at peace or direct war – or the dangers of escalation, could require the skills Special Forces are equipped with.

He said: “If you suddenly had some greyzone operations from the Russians, you could nip them in the bud.”

Dr Simon Anglim, a fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College, said UK Special Forces are “one of our remaining world-class military capabilities” who would be used in a peacekeeping force for “intelligence gathering, VIP protection, some training and possibly countering Russian hybrid activity”.

Optimism of a ceasefire

The directive to UK Special Forces came shortly after UK Defence Secretary John Healey’s trip to Washington last week, the sources said.

Speaking from Downing Street after a virtual summit with European leaders last week, the Prime Minister said a “coalition of the willing” was pressing ahead with the pledge to back a ceasefire deal with 10,000 troops on the ground.

The proposed force is significantly smaller than the 30,000 troops Starmer reportedly pitched to Donald Trump during their White House meeting last month. But a smaller, more specialised military group including UK Special Forces would use intelligence, surveillance, and long-range monitoring to ensure the ceasefire.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “It is the longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on Special Forces activity”.

Secretive forces who don’t need approval from MPs

The work of the UK’s Special Forces is highly secretive. Comprised of five elite units, including the Special Air Service (SAS), Special Boat Service (SBS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR), and the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG), they are regularly deployed to areas where Britain is not officially involved in conflict to conduct intelligence operations, kidnap rescues, and reconnaissance missions.

They operate without the need for approval from the House of Commons, and the Ministry of Defence routinely says it does not comment on their activity. However, media reports have often placed the elite military force in countries across the globe.

A 2023 analysis of media reports surrounding their work, by research group Action on Armed Violence, compiled a list of Special Forces activities to show they had been involved in covert operations in 19 countries since 2011.

The deployments include Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, Syria and Mali. After a year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leaked Pentagon papers revealed that 50 members of UK Special Forces were listed as being present in Ukraine during the conflict.

The specialist units have reportedly participated in hostage rescues and exfiltration, taking part in the rescue of two dozen British diplomats and their families after the outbreak of fighting in Sudan, as well as helping plan an operation to rescue a couple held in the Philippines in 2019.

While peacekeeping missions are not a usual deployment for UK Special Forces, their expertise is believed to be a key factor in ensuring peace, reducing harm, and building confidence of wider troops deployed to Ukraine.

Source