U.S. troops in Ukraine for training exercises

MOSCOW — About 300 US Army paratroopers on Friday arrived in Ukraine for training exercises with national guard units, a move criticized by Moscow and eastern Ukraine’s Russia-backed separatist rebels.

The troops, from the Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade, are to spend several weeks training a total of about 900 Ukrainian national guardsmen.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich denounced the guardsmen as “ultranationalists … who stained themselves with the blood of women, children and the elderly during their punitive operations.”

Although Interior Minister Arsen Avakov had said the guardsman units could include the Azov Battalion, a far-right formation notorious for using an insignia used by many military units in Nazi Germany, U.S. Embassy spokesman James Hallock said Azov fighters would not be among those trained.

Though fighting has diminished substantially since a February cease-fire deal was signed in Minsk, Belarus, clashes continue and each side accuses the other of wanting to resume the conflict. Lukashevich said the U.S. troops’ presence violates the section of the Minsk agreement that bans foreign “armed formations” from Ukraine.

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s office said at least 6,116 people have been killed since the fighting broke out a year ago.

National guard units, many of which began as volunteer groupings, have been an important part of Ukrainian forces’ fighting against the separatists. Two national guard units, working on weeklong rotations, are holding the town of Shyrokyne, currently the most fraught location in the east. Shyrokyne is just east of the major port city of Mariupol, which Ukraine fears rebels aim to seize to establish a land corridor between the Russian mainland and the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, also criticized the American move.

“The participation of instructors and specialists from a third country on the territory of Ukraine, where an unresolved intra-Ukrainian conflict remains, where problems persist in carrying out the Minsk agreement, is far from helping resolve the conflict. To the contrary, it enables destabilizing the situation,” Peskov said.

Rebel envoy Denis Pushilin said the exercises were “a self-evident escalation.”

Talk to us

More in Local News

An example of the Malicious Women Co. products (left) vs. the Malicious Mermaid's products (right). (U.S. District Court in Florida)
Judge: Cheeky candle copycat must pay Snohomish company over $800K

The owner of the Malicious Women Co. doesn’t expect to receive any money from the Malicious Mermaid, a Florida-based copycat.

A grave marker for Blaze the horse. (Photo provided)
After Darrington woman’s horse died, she didn’t know what to do

Sidney Montooth boarded her horse Blaze. When he died, she was “a wreck” — and at a loss as to what to do with his remains.

A fatal accident the afternoon of Dec. 18 near Clinton ended with one of the cars involved bursting into flames. The driver of the fully engulfed car was outside of the vehicle by the time first responders arrived at the scene. (Whidbey News-Times/Submitted photo)
Driver sentenced in 2021 crash that killed Everett couple

Danielle Cruz, formerly of Lynnwood, gets 17½ years in prison. She was impaired by drugs when she caused the crash that killed Sharon Gamble and Kenneth Weikle.

A person walks out of the Everett Clinic on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The Everett Clinic changing name to parent company Optum in 2024

The parent company says the name change will not affect quality of care for patients in Snohomish County.

Tirhas Tesfatsion (GoFundMe) 20210727
Lynnwood settles for $1.7 million after 2021 suicide at city jail

Jail staff reportedly committed 16 safety check violations before they found Tirhas Tesfatsion, 47, unresponsive in her cell.

Chanterelle’s sign hangs above the front door during the restaurant’s final day of business Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in downtown Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
As Chanterelle closes, another local mainstay opens a new chapter

The Edmonds bistro, open since 1986, closed this month. Seattle Italian institution Ristorante Machiavelli is stepping up to fill its shoes.

A semi-truck rolled over blocking all traffic lanes Thursday morning on I-5 north just south of Arlington on Sept. 21, 2023. (Washington State Patrol)
Overturned trailer spills fish onto I-5 near Arlington, closing lanes

The crash blocked all lanes, forcing drivers going north during rush hour to use the left shoulder.

The Marysville Municipal Jail is pictured Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Marysville weighs mandatory jail time for repeated ‘public disorder’

The “three strikes” proposal sets a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail for crimes like public drug use and trespassing.

Everett police on patrol heard gunshots near 26th Street and Lombard Avenue and closed off multiple roads as they investigated on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Everett Police Department)
3 teens arrested after gunfire in downtown Everett

No one was injured. Police heard gunfire in the area of 26th Street and Lombard Avenue.

Most Read