US, Ukraine Start Military Training Exercises, Despite Russia’s Fury
(Worthy News)– Troops from the United States and Ukraine kicked off joint training exercises Monday intended to help bolster Ukraine’s defenses against incursions from Russian-backed separatists in the east, the Associated Press reported.
Speaking under driving rain at a military base in the western region of Lviv, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the country’s armed forces needed to be rebuilt from scratch to deter foreign threats.
The exercises, dubbed “Fearless Guardian-2015,” sparked an enraged reaction from Russia, which described them as a potential cause of destabilization. Moscow continues to dismiss mounting evidence of its involvement in fomenting and supporting a separatist insurgency in Ukraine that has claimed more than 6,100 lives over the past year. –[wp_colorbox_media url=”http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-ukraine-start-military-training-defying-russian-fury-30441275″ type=”iframe” hyperlink=”Source”]