Around 2,800 troops from 11 countries will gather in south-eastern Poland on Monday for the first large-scale exercise by the multinational force being prepared for Ukraine once the war ends.

Exercise Koalicja — Polish for "coalition" — runs from 9 to 22 November at the Nowa Dęba training area, about 100 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. It is the first major rehearsal by the Multinational Force Ukraine, the military arm of the Coalition of the Willing, the group planning security guarantees for Kyiv.

Britain and France are leading the exercise. France is sending the largest contingent, about 1,100 personnel, while Britain is contributing roughly 300 troops, including soldiers from 7 Brigade. Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkey are taking part, with 500 Polish soldiers involved in a logistics role.

The exercise will test the practical work of a deployment rather than firepower: moving personnel and equipment across borders, setting up command systems between national contingents, linking land and air operations, and counter-drone measures. Air exercises will also take place in Romania. No tanks or large missile systems are expected to feature.

Officials stress that any deployment inside Ukraine would happen only after fighting has stopped and only if Kyiv invites the force in. The force is not designed as a wartime combat mission, nor as a peacekeeping or ceasefire-monitoring operation. The United States is not taking part, and NATO has been informed but is not involved.

The exercise was announced by Britain's Ministry of Defence on 3 November. It opens just as American, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are due to meet in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November for talks on ending the war.

[Source: lemonde.fr](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/11/03/in-poland-coalition-of-the-willing-holds-first-large-scale-military-exercise_6769567_4.html) | [Source: news.ssbcrack.com](https://news.ssbcrack.com/european-troops-prepare-for-major-military-exercise-in-poland-ahead-of-potential-ukraine-deployment/)