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A combat training center that U.S. troops helped establish in Ukraine plans to host brigade-sized rotations beginning in 2018, officials said.

Building up the NATO-run, interoperable combat training center is part of an overall effort to boost Ukrainian forces in the face of Russian aggression.

The U.S. Army has steadily ratcheted up its activities across Europe in a bid to reassure Americas NATO allies since Russias invasion of Ukrainian territory in February 2014. One of the most visible efforts is Operation Atlantic Resolve, a series of exercises that has grown to span multiple countries including the three Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

Another piece of the reassurance effort has been a near-constant rotation of U.S. troops into Ukraine to train that country's forces.

On Wednesday, Col. Nick Ducich, commander of the California National Guard's 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, spoke to reporters about his tenure as commander ofJoint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine and his soldiers' efforts to boost the combat training center and Ukrainian troops.

Ducich deployed to Ukraine in 2015 with 54 of his soldiers to train the Ukrainian Ground Forces near Yavoriv.

In the 14 months that Ducich was in charge of the JMTG-U, he said the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian forces grew.

I see the Ukraine Ground Forces getting stronger each day, he told reporters during a media round table at the Pentagon.

The California Guard soldiers joined troops from 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, and multinational partners from Canada, Lithuania, Poland and Britain.

Ducich said there were about 400 Ukrainians staffing the training center when he left in December, and the goal is to have it entirely manned by Ukrainians.

The center, developed in 2015 and still in its infant stages, can accommodate a battalion, he said. It cant be compared to training centers in the United States yet because it hasnt had a comparable amount of time or money put into it.

It will take a while to develop that same edge that U.S. training centers have with opposing forces, he said.

The colonel said the Ukrainian forces are playing catch-up when it comes to defense capabilities because theyve had many obstacles to overcome.

Theres been over 20-plus years of neglect as far as funding, not just soldiers but training and infrastructure and equipment, Ducich said.

Now Ukraine is mobilizing its defense industries, ramping up its capabilities and improving its output of military officers, he said, adding that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his goal is defense reform by 2020.

By 2018, the combat training center is projected to be able to accommodate a brigade-sized rotation with simulations and devices to mimic real-world scenarios, Ducich said.

The Ukrainian military is also working on retaining experienced combat soldiers.

Theyre starting to do that with pay scales, conditions of living, he said. What were seeing now is theyre taking some of those team leaders that have success and optimizing them as instructors [at the training center].

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Amid Russia tensions, US Army continues to build up Ukrainian forces, training center - ArmyTimes.com

New York Times

Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine New York Times KIEV, Ukraine Ukrainians have long struggled with fake news from Russia, but last week, they discovered something even more insidious: a fake journalist. The man was tall and dapper. He wore a dark suit and spoke with a French accent. When he met ...

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Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine - New York Times

Ukraine Says Botched Killing Has Moscow's Fingerprints Wall Street Journal (subscription) KIEV, UkraineA botched assassination attempt in Kiev is providing a glimpse into what officials here say is a string of killings orchestrated by the Kremlin, exposing a deadly underside of Russia's intervention in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities have ...

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Ukraine Says Botched Killing Has Moscow's Fingerprints - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Ukrainians are finally starting to see that spring has arrived following a string of positive developments.

Its the Ukrainian national habit to complain, but there has been a lot of good news lately, said Ukraines Deputy Minister of Trade Nataliya Mykolska in an interview while on a trade mission to Canada. Naftogaz won the Stockholm arbitration case against Gazprom on its merits. The importance is that we can buy gas from Russia at market prices and not at their inflated prices.

Still to be decided by arbitration is Naftogazs counterclaim against Gazprom, alleging overcharges of $30.3 billion.

Interestingly, this good news, and more, was circulated on the Facebook page of Vlad Rashkovan, an official with the IMF. Stop saying that in Ukraine, nothing changes, he wrote inviting others to join in. Look at the results of the last two months.

Indeed, progress is underway. Here is his shortened list of fifteen leaps forward, followed by a few others:

June 1: Canada ratified the free trade agreement with Ukraine.

May 31: The international arbitration court in Stockholm rejected Gazproms controversial take or pay claim, ruling in Naftogazs favor.

May 30: The Dutch senate approved ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement.

May 30: The state e-auction system Prozorro sold the assets of bankrupt banks for one billon hryvnia, preparing for participation in the auctions of small privatizations.

May 17: The European Union approved Ukraines visa-free agreement.

May 13: The Eurovision Song Contest held in Ukraine was recognized by the Eurovision board as a success.

May 3: Ukraine rose thirty points on the Global Open Data Index, besting most EU countries. The country is now ranked as the twenty-fourth most open, after Sweden, Germany, and Hong Kong.

April-May: as a part of the currency liberalization strategy, the National Bank of Ukraine canceled a series of capital controls requirements.

April 26: President Petro Poroshenko signed a law easing the merger and capitalization procedures for small banks.

April 19: The Cabinet of Ministers approved financing for dredging a new grain terminal currently built by MV-Cargo company, which is a joint venture of Cargill. The total amount of investments is $150 million, and is also financed by the EBRD and IFC.

April 14: Poroshenko signed a law on a three-year state budget process.

April 13: The Ukrainian parliament approved a law on the electricity market, which introduced a series of important reforms to liberalize the countrys energy market.

April 3: The International Monetary Fund agreed to release the next tranche of $1 billion, bringing total disbursements to $8.38 billion.

April 3: As a follow-up of a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development-funded project, a law on financial restructuring and the secretariat for financial restructuring of corporations has become operational.

April 1: The Ministry of Finance launched an automatic electronic register of VAT reimbursement.

Its an impressive list. Here are four more:

Clearly, more people are realizing that Ukraine is strategically important as the largest country in Europe with great potential. Ukraine is the worlds fourth most educated; the third largest IT outsource nation in the world after the United States and India; an agricultural giant which is the largest exporter of sunflower oil, second largest grain exporter and third largest exporter of corn, and will be an economic powerhouse once it overthrows its corrupt elites and defeats Russia. Millions of Ukrainians who have left, and billions of dollars, will flood into the country if reformers win the federal election in 2019.

The struggle has been long and slow. But culturally Ukrainians have chosen Europe over the corrupt Soviet system. And while many of us would want change more quickly the fact is that nothing, and no one, can stop its destiny.

Diane Francis is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, Editor at Large with the National Post in Canada, a Distinguished Professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, and author of ten books.

First published Atlantic Council June 7, 2017

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A Good Spring For Ukraine! - HuffPost

New photos of Ukrainian special operations forces show a steady increase in Western influence. With elite forces already a critical part of the fight against Russian-backed separatists in the countrys eastern Donbass region, officials in Kiev have no doubt been keen to take any lessons, even indirectly, from their counterparts in the United States and Europe.

One June 8, 2017, Ukraines Ministry of Defense posted a number of undated images of special operators or candidates during training. The pictures showed troops maneuvering through temperate, snowy, urban, and nighttime environments, as well as conducting apparent team-building type exercises. More importantly, their weapons and gear are very similar to the kit that American and Western European special operations forces commonly employ.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly independent Ukraine inherited a significant number of existing military units, along with associated military infrastructure, weapons, and other equipment. These included both military spetnaz a contraction of the Russian words spetsialnogo naznacheniya, meaning special purpose, which has become a catch-all term in Russia and many post-Soviet states for elite formations and other specialized personnel within the Ministry of the Interior.

Ukraine MoD

So its perhaps not surprising that the bulk of the weapons on display were derivatives of Soviet-era designs, including members of the legendary Kalashnikov rifle family and the ubiquitous PKM light machine gun. At least one of the operators has a much more uncommon Stechkin APS pistol with a sound suppressor. This handgun fires the same 9x18mm cartridge as the Makarov pistol, but has the ability to fire fully automatic at a rate of 750 rounds per minute. In this mode, a shooter could burn through a full 20-round magazine in a matter of a couple seconds. The 9x18mm round is notably less powerful than NATO-standard 9x19mm ammunition.

Ukraine MoD

A member of Ukraine's special operations forces with a suppressed Stechkin APS pistol.

Ukrainian companies, such as RPC Fort, still produce many of these weapons, as well as updated versions, as well as the ammunition to go along with them. However, the Ukrainian special operators have versions of these old standbys covered in accessory rails and fitted with various red dot optical sights. One spetnaz troop has a combination of an EOTech Holosight and a magnifier. This allows the operator to switch rapidly between sights better suited for close-in and longer range engagements.

Ukraine MoD

A Ukrainian spetnaz operator with a rifle featuring both an EOTech Holosight and a magnifier.

In May 2017, Military Times spotted a fighter with an elite element of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units rebel group, better known as the YPG, carrying a similar configuration in Syria, which it said was indicative of American support for the unit. A separate video showed Ukrainian elite troops have been using the configuration for more than a year.

Fort has also begun license producing a number of Israeli-designed weapons, including a number of versions of the Israeli Weapons Industries Tavor TAR-21 bullpup rifle. Ukrainian special operators appear in one of the pictures carrying a short-barrel version of this 5.56mm weapon, which would be ideal for urban operations or when rapidly moving in and out of a vehicle or helicopter.

Ukraine MoD

A blurry shot of one of Ukraine's spetnaz troops with a Fort-built clone of the IWI Tavor.

In addition, snipers are seen with sniper rifles featuring rail accessory hand guards and lightweight, modular stocks similar to the U.S. Armys M2010 or U.S. Special Operations Commands Mk 21 Mod 0 Precision Sniper Rifle. As early as 2013, Ukraine's PJSC Mayak Plant, under direction from the state-run arms enterprise Ukroboronprom, had already begun designing precision weapons in the NATO-standard 7.62x51mm cartridge, as well as .338 Lapua Magnum, a round popular among Western military forces.

Ukraine MoD

On top of that, most of the elite forces in the pictures are dressed in the uniforms with a camouflage scheme similar to the U.S. militarys Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) or the commercial Multicam design, both of which have long been popular among American special operators. Some wear lightweight Ops-Core helmets, which were also cited in Military Times May 2017 report from Syria. One image shows two spetnaz, including one with a PKM machine gun, driving a small all-terrain buggy similar in size and shape to the Polaris MRZR that U.S. special operations forces and other specialized units have in service. In May 2016, these vehicles appeared with elite American troops in Iraq, too.

Ukraine MoD

To be fair, Russias own spetnaz have been adopting a lot of similar kit since the end of the Cold War. However, the exact types of gear Ukrainian special operations forces are using, and even the brands in question, highlight increased interactions with their American counterparts and possible active shared training sessions. Its worth noting that in April 2016 Ukrainian Major General Ihor Lunyov, head of the countrys Special Operations Forces Command (SOFCOM), and his staff traveled to Stuttgart, Germany to meet with U.S. Air Force Major General Gregory Lengyel, then in charge of Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). Two months later, Lengyel left to take up the post of Deputy Commanding General of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command.

SOCEUR

U.S. Air Force Major General Gregory Lengyel, then SOCEUR Commander, talks to Ukrainian Major General Ihor Lunyov in April 2016.

The visit consisted of briefings and discussions at the SOCEUR Headquarters on the current state of Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF), the U.S. and partner nation SOF contributions to the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission, along with a conversation on the future structure and the development of the Ukrainian SOCOM's institutional capacities, according to an official press release. The visit concluded with a joint demonstration by [U.S.] Army and Navy SOF at a local training area.

Ukrainian officials have been eager to expand the ranks of their elite units since Russia seized control of the Crimea region in March 2014 and then began actively supporting separatist factions elsewhere in the country. The spetnaz community, both in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior, had already been deeply entangled in the countrys many crises.

Ukraine MoD

The Ministry of Interiors Berkut special purpose force was heavily implicated in the violent crackdown that led to Ukraines 2014 revolution, which in turn unseated pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych and touched off a series of events lead to the countrys civil war. In the aftermath, the new Ukrainian government disbanded Berkut.

Other spetnaz units, which were among the best trained and equipped, were also entangled in the countrys political upheaval, with some members reportedly defecting to Russia or joining Russian-backed militia in the Crimea and Donbass regions. Those that remained loyal to officials in Kiev were quickly deployed to combat separatists who had established de facto statelets in the countrys Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.

Ukraine MoD

During the fighting in and around Donetsk Airport in 2015, Kremlin-supported forces dubbed the Ukrainian defenders, which included members of the 3rd Spetnaz Regiment, as inhuman cyborgs for their tenacity. They only abandoned their positions after repeated artillery bombardments and assaults with tanks and other armored vehicles.

Unfortunately, though supportive of the government in Kiev and its claims to territorial integrity, the United States has gone back and forth on just how active its support should be and whether military assistance should include the sale of offensive weapons like artillery pieces and anti-tank missiles. So far, the only publicly announced SOCEUR engagement in Ukraine involved medical training.

Given that they remain at the forefront of the countrys internal security campaign, Ukraines spetnaz contingents would want to seek out top of the line weapons and gear in general. But the new images suggest ties with Western elite units may be expanding, either directly or indirectly.

Contact the author: jtrevithickpr@gmail.com

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Ukrainian Spetnaz's Weapons and Gear May Show an American Touch - The Drive