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Members of the Oklahoma National Guardin Ukraine earned the gratitude and respect of many civilians thereas they went above and beyond the call of duty.

Five soldiers with the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team's (IBCT) 1st Battalion, 279th Regiment, ran into a burning apartment building in L'viv Sunday, helping to evacuate residents from the building's top floor.

The Guard members were in L'viv, a 60-minute drive from the training compound where they live, to sight-see and relax, as many do on Sundays. While walking through the city's historic old town, the men noticed smoke coming from a building nearby.

"So, my first instinct, being infantry, is to run toward the fire," said Sgt. Nelson Deese of Alpha Company.

Deese says, when they got to the building, he noticed no firefighters had arrived yet, and everyone else seemed to just be watching and not doing anything to help.

"Everyone was kind of, like, looking and kept going about their business, like it wasn't a big deal," Deese recalled, in an interview with 45th IBCT Public Affairs staff."So, I'm like, 'Hey, let's get in there.'"

"Instinctively, we all just ran inside and started helping people out," added Spc. Kellar Jackson.

Jackson and Deese were joined by Spc. Vincent Humerickhouse, Pfc. Kevin Polk, and Spc. Aaron Moore. They dodged people running out and ran straight to the third floor.

"And you could see the fire," Deese stated."It was just...blazin'!"

In his hometown of Crowder, Oklahoma, in Pittsburg County, Deese is a volunteer firefighter, so he knew they had to move quickly and get people out.

"We just started knocking on doors, banging on windows, trying to get people's attention," Deese explained."[Because] they were definitely not aware of the fire."

"We could barely breathe, and it was kind of chaotic," Jackson noted. "We had one lady that didn't want to come out, because she didn't want to leave her dogs."

The Oklahoma soldiers don't speak Ukrainian, but Deese says it wasn't hard to get the message across.

"They realized what was going on," Deese said."So they ran back inside and tried to grab whatever they could, and their other family members."

L'viv firefighters soon showed up and took over, but it was the quick response of the Oklahoma Guard members that truly saved the day.

"I was really worried for the people inside," Deese said."I wanted to make sure they got out."

"I am proud of what we did," said Jackson."I'm glad we did that."

The 45th IBCT is scheduled to be in Western Ukraine, carrying out its training mission, through the end of 2017.

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Oklahoma National Guard Soldiers Save Residents In Ukraine Apartment Fire - news9.com KWTV

Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, admitted Sunday that it was problematicfor Democrats to collude with Ukraine.

A January Politico report indicated that a Democratic National Committee operative worked with Ukrainian government officials to dig up Russia-related opposition research on Donald Trump. The operative later shared that information with the DNC and the Clinton campaign. (RELATED:Everybody Is Forgetting That Clinton Allies Did The Same Thing As Don Jr.)

Several Trump allies have pointed out that the Ukraine storyline isnt dissimilar from Donald Trump Jr. meeting with a Russian lawyer with the intention ofcollecting damaging information against Hillary Clinton.

During a Sunday interview on ABCs This Week, Jon Karl asked Rep. Adam Schiff, who has been an outspoken critic of the Trump Jr. meeting, if he also found the DNC-Ukraine collusion to be wrong.

No, it wouldnt be acceptable for the Democrats to accept help from the Ukrainian government, Schiff admitted.

WATCH:

Schiff tried to argue that the Russian effort to help Trump was much more widespread and reportedly came directly from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The scale of what the Russians did is not comparable to anything in [the Politico report],he alleged.

So the scale is different, but this is problematic. Acknowledge that, Karl pressed.

Well, it would be problematic to get any sort of support from a foreign government, Schiff said.

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Rep. Schiff: Democrat Collusion With Ukraine 'Problematic' [VIDEO] - The Daily Caller

Britain is beefing-up its help for Ukrainian troops battling pro-Russian forces , in a move likely to increase tensions with the Kremlin.

The UK is expanding its training of Ukrainian armed forces, with new military courses covering threats including countering attacks from snipers, armoured vehicles and mortars.

The mission, codenamed Operation Orbital, has so far focused on teaching recruits how to spot mines and improvised explosives, provide battlefield medical care and logistics planning.

Unveiling the new help, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said last night: We continue to stand side by side with our Ukrainian friends in the face of Russian belligerence and aggression.

This training, defensive in nature, will help protect Ukrainian troops against the threats that they face on a daily basis.

By stepping up our training programmes we are sending a clear message that we support the people of Ukraine and are firmly committed to its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Todays announcement comes exactly three years after 298 people, including 10 Britons, were killed when an airliner was blasted out of the sky over eastern Ukraine.

The disaster happened as Russian-backed separatists fought Ukrainian forces in the disputed Donbas region.

MH17 a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 - was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crossed over the territory and was shot down on July 17, 2014.

Evidence showed the Buk missile system responsible had been brought in from Russian territory and was fired from a field controlled by pro-Russian fighters.

Since the Donbas conflict flared in March 2014, 2,700 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and another 10,000 injured.

A total of 128 have died already this year.

Last week, Sir Michael revealed the UK has directly trained over 5,000 members of Ukraines Armed Forces in 14 locations away from the Donbas.

Since 2015, over 1,300 British personnel have been deployed on Operation Orbital.

The training mission will continue until at least early 2018.

See more here:
UK to increase aid for Ukrainian troops battling pro-Russian forces - Mirror.co.uk

Published on: July 16, 2017 | Last Updated: July 16, 2017 1:31 PM EDT

Canadian Forces personnel supervise training in Ukraine. DND photo.

The Canadian militarys Joint Task Force-Ukraine has trained more than4780 Ukrainian soldiers as of the beginning of this month, according to the Canadian Forces. There have been more than 111 course serials that covered various training, including explosive ordnance disposal, small team training, military police training on military service of law and order, flight safety, medical, and logistics systems modernization, the Canadian Forces added.

Canada currently has approximately 200 military personnel deployed to Ukraine, the majority of which are from the 3rd Canadian Division. The Canadian mission to Ukraine will continue until the end of March 2019.

Canadian Army commander Lieutenant-General Paul Wynnyk recently travelled to Ukraine to meet with soldiers at both the engineer training school in Kamyanets-Podilsky, and the Peace Support Training Centre near Lviv.

During the visit, Wynnyk, joined by the Ukraine Land Force Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Naev Sergii, also participated in a roundtable meeting with senior Ukrainian Land Forces staff, according to the Canadian Army.

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Almost 5000 Ukrainian soldiers trained by Canada so far - Ottawa Citizen

Russia has denied entry to the disputed islands it holds off Hokkaido to a Japanese mayor in retaliation for sanctions Japan imposed on it for annexing Ukraine, diplomatic sources say.

Nemuro Mayor Shunsuke Hasegawa was unable to join a five-day study tour through July 1 to assess the potential for joint economic development of the islands, which are claimed by Tokyo, the sources said Saturday.

Russias denial was based on its territorial claim, which is theoretically unacceptable to Tokyo, which claims Russia illegally occupied the four isles after Japans surrender in World War II. Japan has called for the return of the islands for decades.

Still, Tokyo apparently responded to Russias demand by removing Hasegawa from the study group. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida vaguely spoke about the mayors absence, telling a news conference on June 27 that it was a result of arrangements with the parties involved. The delegation began the feasibility study tour the same day.

Because the joint feasibility study was a visa-free arrangement, Tokyo claimed that Hasegawa should be allowed to join the tour but Russia did not agree, the sources said.

Russias action underlines the difficulties involved in settling the decades-old territorial dispute. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eager to engrave his name in history by settling the issue and concluding a peace treaty to formally end World War II.

Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at their hot spring summit in December to launch bilateral consultations on the joint economic activities as a part of settling the territorial issue and signing a peace treaty.

As for the mayor, the Russian government introduced the retaliatory measure in August 2014, but the number of Japanese subject to it, and their names, were not released at that time.

A senior Japanese official admitted, Mayor Hasegawa has been subject to the (retaliatory) sanction measure.

Hasegawa originally planned to take part in the delegation but was notified by the Foreign Ministry the day before departure that he would not be able to participate. The ministry has not disclosed the reason why Hasegawa was excluded, according to Hasegawa.

The government maintains the Russian-held islands are part of Japan and has asked Japanese people to refrain from visiting them by adhering to Russias passport control demands.

The members of the Japanese delegation visited Kunashiri, Etorofu and Shikotan islands without bringing their passports or getting visas for the tour, which ended on July 1.

Nemuro, on the eastern tip of Hokkaido, is close to the disputed islands and acts as a base for campaigns aimed to getting them returned.

Meanwhile, companies and groups from the fisheries and tourism industries in Nemuro are expected to be involved in the envisioned joint economic activities if Japan and Russia formally launch the project.

In April 2014, Tokyo announced it would deny visas to 23 Russian nationals as part of sanctions over Moscows annexation of the Crimea region in Ukraine.

Hasegawa is believed to have been put on the blacklist as he plays a key role in Japans movement to get the islands back.

The three islands and the Habomai islet group were seized by Soviet troops after Japan surrendered in August 1945, bringing World War II to an end.

Japan hopes joint economic activities, once started, will pave the way for addressing the decades-long territorial dispute with Russia.

The city assembly of Nemuro protested to the ministry late June over the decision to exclude the mayor from the tour, after unanimously adopting a resolution to that effect.

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Hokkaido mayor axed from tour of disputed isles as payback for Ukraine sanctions - The Japan Times