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TULSA Family and friends, along with several distinguished guests, gathered at Union High School in Tulsa to say farewell to soldiers as part of the second rotation deploying to Ukraine.

More than 200 members of the 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma Army National Guard, are heading to Fort Bliss, Texas to continue with pre-mobilization training prior to going overseas.

Its a pleasure to be here and be part of this ceremony, Brig. Gen. Michael Thompson, assistant adjutant general for Oklahoma, said. The 279 has such a historic reputation in the Oklahoma National Guard and the United States military.

This second six-month rotation for the Joint Multinational Training Group Ukraine or JMTG-U will continue the mission of its sister battalion, the 179 Infantry. Soldiers will assist in the training of Ukrainian Forces in tactical skills such as marksmanship, live-fire exercises and first aid at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center outside of Yavoriv, Ukraine.

The JMTG-U is a strategically significant mission for United States and its allies involving both NATO and non-NATO member nations, Lt. Col. Bruce Lambeth, commander of 1st Battalion, 279 Infantry Regiment, said. The multinational effort will contribute to Ukraines long-term defense capabilities by providing Partner Advise Training Teams. This is an effort to increase the combat capability of the Ukrainian Army through their training at their combat training center.

For some soldiers and families the deployments can be both exciting and challenging.

My expectation for my soldiers is to get the training they need, and aid and assist the Ukrainian forces that we will be partnered up with, 1st Lt. Zubair Khan, commander of Alpha Company, said. I look forward to taking alpha company forward and doing great things with them.

We are expecting our first child, Khan said, with his wife by his side.

Their daughter is due this summer and Khan is scheduled to return for the birth.

Its difficult, Khan said. The first six months my wife will have to raise our daughter by herself.

Khan explained that he and his wife have a solid support system to help with their child while he is away.

Though with a heavy heart, family members and friends say goodbye to their soldiers, looking forward to seeing them again soon.

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Second unit to deploy for training in Ukraine - Press-leader

Set on the banks of the Dnieper river in lush parkland is a hauntingly beautiful memorial to a horrific episode in history, the Holodomor, which means death by hunger. Entering the park past the guardian stone Angels of Sorrow, visitors can hear quiet but clear chimes, and your eye is drawn to the soaring Candle of Memory memorial atop the underground Hall of Memory.

It was not until 2006 that the Holodomor, a devastating famine which took place in the Ukraine region of the Soviet Union, was recognized in the Ukrainian parliament as a deliberate act of genocide against the countrys people. The artificially introduced food shortage created under Stalin was at its peak in June 1933, with nearly 28,000 people starving to death every day. Estimates have put the total number of fatalities at approximately 4 million.

Historians today believe the genocide was planned by Soviet leaders to quash any attempts at Ukrainian independence and prevent uprising from farmers who resisted collectivization (confiscating all private farms and livestock and making them government-owned) under the Soviet regime.

In 2008, 75 years after the famine-genocide, a memorial to the victims was opened in Kyiv, recognized as a national museum two years later. Inside the memorial complex is a striking statue named The Bitter Memory of Childhood, showing a young girl holding some wheat, a tribute to the most helpless victims of the famine: children. Inthe Blackboard Alley, boards list the names of the 14,000 villages and towns in Ukraine that suffered, many of whose residents remain nameless to date.

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Holodomor Victims Memorial - Atlas Obscura

WARSAW, Poland Poland and Ukraine said Tuesday they are working toward developing a regional gas hub that would end Central and Eastern Europe's dependence on Russian supplies and keep prices in line with European standards.

The region still relies to some extent on Russian natural gas and has been exposed to political pressure from Moscow, which has at times in the past limited supply volumes or hiked gas prices. Governments in the region have been reducing their imports of gas from Russia and seeking other sources. They have also been trying to become more energy-efficient, a task Ukraine still needs to fully undertake.

Poland is increasingly importing gas from other regions. Its new liquefied natural gas port has received deliveries by sea from Qatar and is expecting a delivery from the United States this week. Poland is also proceeding with a project to bring in North Sea gas.

Poland is sending some resources on to Ukraine, after the country cut imports from Russia in 2015. In response, Russia has threatened to end its gas transit through Ukraine, which would mean a significant loss of income for Kiev.

Government officials participating in a Poland-Ukraine Gas Conference on Tuesday said the planned hub should be in place by 2022 on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

"We now have enough infrastructure to move onwards with the hub," said Sergei Makogon, deputy head of Ukraine's oil and gas company, Ukrtransgaz.

A nation of 38 million, Poland uses 15.3 billion cubic meters of gas a year, of which 11.1 billion cubic meters are imported. Ukraine, with almost 43 million residents, uses 33.2 cubic meters of gas, with 11.1 billion cubic meters imported from its western partners.

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Poland, Ukraine develop gas hub for independence from Russia ... - Fox News

GENEVA, June 7. /TASS/. Swiss Federal Councilor Didier Burkhalter called on Kiev to take steps towards the decentralization of power in Ukraine, to up democratization efforts as well as to enhance the fighting against corruption, according to Wednesdays statement from the main diplomatic office of Switzerland.

The statement cited Burkhalter as saying, that although a host of important reformations had been already implemented, Ukraine still had to brace itself for stepping up efforts in the direction of democracy, power decentralization and eradication of existing corruption incidents.

Switzerlands diplomatic body state that during Burkhalters visit to Ukraine on June 6-7, the Swiss diplomat stressed particularly that contacts between the countrys mainland and self-proclaimed regions should be encouraged.

Burkhalter said that Switzerland was waiting for the developments in the political sphere of Ukraine and such progress should lead to peace in the region.

The Ukrainian city of Mariupol was the first venue for Burkhalters visit to Ukraine on Tuesday, and today he traveled to the countrys capital of Kiev, where he met for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavel Klimkin.

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Switzerland urges Ukraine to decentralize power and initiate fight against corruption - TASS

Alexei Druzhinin//Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will definitely come up with a reciprocal reaction in case Ukraine introduces visa regime for Russia citizens, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"We kept reiterating for quite a while that such decisions [of Ukraine to introduce visa regime for Russians] will be followed bya reaction based completely on reciprocity," Peskov told journalists.

"I can say that the reciprocal measure would undoubtedly follow," he said. "The nature and the scale of the reciprocal measure is another matter, which will be first of all determined by the Russian president."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Tuesday that in case Ukraine introduced visa regime with Russia, Moscow would answer with mirror-reflection measures putting in force the visa regime for Ukrainian nationals as well.

The top Russian diplomat added that a large number of Ukrainian migrants, about 2-3 million, were currently staying in Russia.

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Putin will 'definitely react' in case Ukraine introduces visa regime, spokesman warns - TASS