Interfax-Ukraine
April 17, 2015
U.S. paratroopers arrive in Ukraine – Ambassador
Servicemen of the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the U.S. army have arrived in Ukraine to train the National Guard units, U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt reported on Friday morning.
“MT @USAGBavaria 173rd Airborne troops arrive in Ukraine for Fearless Guardian [military drills],” Pyatt wrote on Twitter.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on March 29 that U.S. Armed Forces servicemen would arrive in the Yavoriv range in Lviv region on April 20 for long-term coaching of Ukrainian National Guard units.
“Two hundred and ninety U.S. paratroopers will land on the Yavoriv range in Lviv region on April 20 to begin long-term coaching and exercises between the 173rd U.S. airborne brigade and National Guard units under an agreement with the U.S. Department of State,” Avakov wrote on Facebook on Sunday evening.
The coaching program will involve 900 National Guard servicemen, the minister said.
“There will be three groups, 300 National Guard servicemen in each. The three training courses will last for eight weeks each. Then joint exercises will be held,” Avakov said.
According to Avakov, the following battalions will take part in the exercise – Azov, Kulchynsky Yahuar (jaguar), Omega, and others from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Odesa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia.
“Our American partners will present special ammunition and communication devices to the National Guard detachments that underwent training at the end of the exercise,” he said.
The Fearless Guardian military exercises will take place in Yavoriv district, Lviv region, in the period from March to November and will bring together a maximum of 2,200 troops. Ukraine is providing up to 200 armed forces troops and up to 1,000 National Guard personnel, and the U.S. will be represented by a maximum of 1,000 servicemen.
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