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US to end training of three Ukraine’s National Guard battalions in October — US commander

The multinational Rapid Trident drills in Ukraine's Lviv region this July will involve one National Guard battalion trained by US specialists

© EPA/ANDREW KRAVCHENKO / POOL

WASHINGTON, June 17. /TASS/. The Pentagon expects that the training of three battalions of Ukraine’s National Guard will be completed in October, US army commander in Europe, Lt-Gen Frederick "Ben" Hodges said in a telephone conversation with a TASS correspondent on Tuesday.

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Hodges said "there are two more cycles to go" in the Lviv region, in western Ukraine. Instructors of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade have been working with Ukraine’s National Guard since April.

"Around 300-305" American soldiers take part in training three battalions in the city of Yavorov, in the Lviv region, Hodges said." I think it's been a very effective training experience for the Ukrainian National Guard," he added.

The multinational Rapid Trident drills in the Lviv region this July, with the participation of the US, NATO forces and participants of the Partnership for Peace program, will also involve one National Guard battalion, he said.

Hodges earlier said the training program will include drills in "rear area security, route security, in protecting critical infrastructure." Apart from that, the US military will help Ukrainian troops improve "combat life saving," "operate in a very heavily contested electronic warfare environment," and "assist them in surviving the intensive artillery and rocket fire."

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Ukraine crisis Military drills

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