Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here. An archive of our liveblogs can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast.
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For the latest summary of evidence surrounding the shooting down of flight MH17 see our separate article: Evidence Review: Who Shot Down MH17?
The link goes to a website run by the U.S. State Department which highlights a few key aspects to the U.S. mission to train Ukrainian forces. While the article notes that the U.S. does not believe that there is a military solution to the crisis, Ukraine still has a right to defend itself:
About 290 U.S. service members, including paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy, will train six Ukraine National Guard companies. The training will take place in western Ukraine near the Polish border. Among the training’s objectives will be improving the soldiers’ ability to conduct route security, protect critical infrastructure and operate in an electronic-warfare environment.
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In March, President Obama approved the allocation of $75 million in Department of Defense European Reassurance Initiative funds to provide additional nonlethal equipment to Ukraine. This includes the transfer to Ukraine of 30 armored and up to 200 unarmored Humvees along with other equipment such as small drones, radios and counter-mortar radars. An initial supply of 10 armored vehicles arrived in Ukraine on March 25.
The report notes that the UK and Poland are also sending military advisors to train the Ukrainian military.
— James Miller
Death-by-landmine is increasingly common, it seems. Servicemen were killed over the weekend by landmines, and recently a civilian bus tried to drive around a checkpoint and hit a landmine. The Ukrainian military has been known to place landmines near checkpoints, though those areas are usually well marked with signage. The Ukrainian military also reports widespread use of landmines by the Russian-backed separatists.
Today, 24 Today (via Liveuamap) is reporting that a man was killed by a landmine near the Seversky Donets river, and area of heavy fighting in recent weeks.
For all the recent fighting, just a few months ago the Ukrainian military would not have had time for much training as it was engaged in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine. The ceasefire may be broken, but it has not (yet) exploded to the level of violence we witnessed before the second Minsk agreement.
— James Miller