U-S paratroopers are training the first of three National Guard units in Ukraine. The mission is part of the Pentagon's non-lethal aid package to the Ukrainian military, but Moscow says it considers the operation a threat to regional security.
The United States has dispatched elite troops from one of its most decorated regiments to Ukraine. Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will train 900 soldiers from Ukraine's National Guard in three rotations over the next six months.
The training will include everything from medical care and casualty evacuation to how to move as part of a small military unit and how to better shoot, using the kind of weapons available to the Ukrainian forces.
The U.S. troops would usually use an M4 rifle for an exercise like this but here they are using an AK-74 which is a weapon the Ukrainians are much more familiar with.
Many of the National Guard units began as volunteer groups with little or no combat experience. But most of the guardsmen here have spent time on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, and the U.S trainers say they have confidence in their skill level
"We really started training yesterday and we kicked it off with classes - basic weapon training, sight picture, focusing on breathing and trigger squeeze and the Ukrainian forces."
"The Jaguar Company partnered with us, knew exactly what we were talking about right from the beginning and we were able to get out here and start training right away with no issues," said Matthew Carpenter, US captain of 173rd airborne brigade.
Kiev hopes the operation - which has sparked an angry reaction from Moscow - will improve the fighting capabilities of its irregular troops, before they head back to the conflict zone. Violence and violations are reported almost daily and it's unclear how long the truce will hold.