April 20, 2015 (AFP News Agency) US paratroopers
Monday began training Ukrainian government forces who will fight pro-Russian
separatists in the east, angering Moscow as the deadly conflict rumbles on in
the ex-Soviet country. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko welcomed troops from
the US 173rd Airborne Brigade in a rain-soaked ceremony at a military base in
Yavoriv, western Ukraine, to launch Operation Fearless Guardian.
"We are the eyewitnesses and
direct participants in forming the new Ukrainian military, which like the
phoenix is rising again after years of decline," Poroshenko told the
assembled troops. "This is not only a war for the independence of Ukraine,
but also a war for freedom and democracy in Europe and the whole world."
Officials said some 300 US troops
will train 900 members of Ukraine's National Guard, which is deployed in the
east where heavy artillery fire can still be heard despite a February
ceasefire. The United Nations says more than 6,000 people have been killed in
the conflict in the past year and more than a million civilians have been
displaced. US Army Major Michael Weisman told AFP the mission would provide
training in individual and medical skills and defence manoeuvres with the kind
of weapons already used by the Ukrainian forces such as AK-47 assault rifles.
As the US brigade arrived in Ukraine
last week from its base in Italy, Russia warned the move could
"destabilise" Ukraine and said it was a step towards the United States
arming Ukraine.
The full article is available at http://www.afp.com/en/news/us-starts-training-ukrainians-fight-pro-russia-forces
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