The U.S. military will deploy soldiers to Ukraine to train four companies in the Ukrainian National Guard this spring, officials said in Kiev on Wednesday. The number of soldiers to begin training near the city of L’viv, about 40 miles from the Polish border, is yet to be determined, said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the head of U.S. Army Europe. Hodges met with Lt. General Anatoliy Pushnyakov, commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and acting commander of the National Guard Lt. Gen. Oleksandr Kryvyenko, after the Ukrainian government requested training “as they work to reform their police forces and establish their newly formed National Guard,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Vanessa Hillman said. Washington has refocused its attention on the region following clashes between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in the region. The U.S. began providing heavier military equipment to Kiev on Monday with the first prototype of “Kozak,” an armored vehicle for use with Ukrainian border guards, according to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.
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