US forces to hold training exercise in Ukraine with national guard units
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The United States plans to send soldiers to Ukraine in April for training exercises with units of the country's national guard.
Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post on Sunday that the units to be trained include the Azov Battalion, a volunteer force that has attracted criticism for its far-right sentiments including brandishing an emblem widely used in Nazi Germany.
Avakov said the training will begin April 20 at a base in western Ukraine near the Polish border and would involve about 290 American paratroopers and some 900 Ukrainian guardsmen.
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Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said the troops would come from the 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vincenza, Italy.
U.S. forces also took part in exercises in Ukraine in September.