US forces to hold training exercise in Ukraine with national guard units

KIEV, Ukraine – 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.

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.