Ukraine, NATO start military drills in Poland

RIA Novosti
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

KIEV, September 2 (RIA Novosti) – A joint Ukrainian-Polish-British tactical exercise began on Tuesday at the Nova Demba military training grounds in Poland, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.

The Cossack Steppe 2008 exercise is part of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program and has been conducted in succession on the territories of the three countries since 1997.

“The current exercises are aimed at practicing stabilization measures in a region controlled by opposing terrorist and extremist forces,” the ministry said in a statement.

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The exercise involves 50 Ukrainian servicemen from the 79th Airmobile Brigade and will be conducted until September 14. Soldiers from the brigade have served as peacekeepers in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone.

The stated goal of Ukraine’s defense policy has long been to integrate with NATO, a drive that has received strong backing from the United States.

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