UKRAINE-CRISIS/DRILLS Military drills with US, NATO forces start in western Ukraine

Record ID: 146636

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/DRILLS Military drills with US, NATO forces start in western Ukraine
  • Date: 20th July 2015
  • Summary: AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM BEING PLAYED AS SOLDIER RAISE U.S. FLAG SERVICEWOMAN SALUTING AS NATIONAL ANTHEM IS PLAYED VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS RAISING UKRAINIAN FLAG VARIOUS OF MILITARY ORCHESTRA PLAYING UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS LOOKING ON MILITARY VEHICLE IN FOREGROUND, SOLDIERS STANDING AT END OF FIELD SOLDIERS SEEN THROUGH WINDOW OF VEHICLE VARIOUS OF INTE
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA29XGZM0072UG3MQNBACKAFQU4
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Large-scale military exercises that include the U.S. and several other military units of NATO countries were launched in western Ukraine's Yavoriv district on Monday (July 20).
    The annual drills Saber Guardian/Rapid Trident-2015 will last 11 days, coming to a conclusion on July 31.
    Servicemen stood at attention as an opening ceremony was held at the Yavoriv training centre, where the flags of all participating countries were flying.
    U.S. Army Colonel and Rapid Trident co-directory, Alfred Renzi, outlined part of drills objectives.
    "Part of what you are going to see is a lot of the tactical tasks that are applicable to both stability operations and also the full up combat - so for example you would see soldiers reacting to an attack, or reacting to an ambush and then following through to eliminate the threat on a particular objective," Renzi told reporters on Monday.
    Some 2,000 servicemen from military units that include Britain, Canada and Bulgaria are taking part in the drills. Georgian troops are also involved in the exercises.
    Ukraine is not a member of NATO and the U.S.-dominated alliance has not intervened militarily in the ongoing conflict in the country, in which more than 6,500 people have been killed since April last year.
    The United States so far has also declined to provide Kiev with lethal weapons, fearing that would lead to a fast-escalating proxy war with Russia.
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