2,500 soldiers from Ukraine and 14 countries will participate in the 'Rapid Trident 2017' exercises
More than 2,500 soldiers from Ukraine and 14 partner countries will take part in the international exercise "Rapid Trident-2017", which will begin in the Lviv region in early September this year, reported Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak.
"The current exercises will be held on a larger scale than in previous years ... Our goal is quality preparation for the ‘Rapid Trident 2017’ international exercises," said Poltorak on Thursday during an audit of the National Academy of Ground Forces.
"Joint training gives us a good chance to obtain the criteria and standards existing in the countries of the Alliance [NATO], and it gives our partners the opportunity to learn from the experience of Ukrainian soldiers obtained in combat," the minister added.
As reported on the official website of the Defense Ministry, the Minister drew attention to the qualitative preparation for the exercises and the development of practical actions during the exercises.
As reported, in January, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a law, approved by the Verkhovna Rada, adopting a decision to admit units of other states’ armed forces into Ukrainian territory in 2017 to participate in multinational exercises.
According to the law, within the framework of the “Rapid Trident 2017”, Ukraine proposed to admit, for up to 25 days in June-November 2017, up to 2000 US Servicemen, in addition to [soldiers from] other NATO member states and states participating in the Partnership for Peace program with weapons and military equipment of up to 6 aircraft and 10 helicopters. In total, a maximum of 3,500 servicemen were to participate in the exercises that will be held at the Yavoriv training range in Lviv region in June-November, of which up to 1,500 were from the [Ukrainian] Armed Forces, 1,000 from the US Armed Forces, and just as many [1,000] from other NATO member states and state-participants of the Partnership for Peace program.