Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces within the joint training group started drills at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center of the Academy of the Ground Forces on Monday, head of the regional media center of the Defense Ministry Col. Oleksandr Poroniuk said.
“The military exercises will feature combatants of five battalions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces determined by the Defense Ministry. The trainings will be held in several stages until the beginning of 2017, each several months new Ukrainian army units will arrive at the firing range,” Poroniuk told Interfax on Nov. 23.
The main goal of the military exercises is to train the Ukrainian military up to the standards of the leading armies in the world, he said. U.S., Canadian, British and Lithuanian servicemen will be instructors.
The scenario of the war games includes drills of tactics, shooting training, tactical medicine, provision of communications and the counteraction to explosives for infantrymen and artillerymen. The Ukrainian military will be trained for the work with counter-battery radar stations, which the U.S. has recently handed over to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Poroniuk referred to Commander of the Ground Forces Lt. Gen. Pushniakov who said that the military exercises were the largest in terms of numerical strength of personnel, because several thousand soldiers would participate in them, and in terms of time, as they would last until 2017.
The field phase of exercises will start on Nov. 23 afternoon, Poroniuk said.
