Ukraine president says 60,000 troops deployed in east
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has announced the expansion of the number of government troops deployed in the eastern conflict zone to 60,000 despite a ceasefire accord with pro-Russia forces there.
"We are doing our best to ensure the security of our state. We have brought the number of our armed forces in the ATO (anti-terrorist operation) zone to 60,000 servicemen today. There used to be no more than 30,000 in peak periods in the past," Poroshenko declared in a Friday interview with the local Inter TV channel.
Poroshenko further affirmed that foreign military trainers are involved in the process.
The development came as the Western-backed Ukrainian officials are reportedly making major efforts to provide army units with new military equipment and to train their troops to Western standards.
This is while the Ukrainian president signed legislative amendments earlier on Thursday allowing the presence of foreign forces in the country as part of a so-called international peacekeeping force. The law also includes a provision to permit Ukraine to station weapons of mass destruction on its soil.
Currently, 380 American and 75 British military forces are training Ukrainian army troops amid reports that a Canadian military contingent may be added next fall.
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon announced on Wednesday that Britain is "doubling up our training of Ukrainian forces”, adding, “We've already trained around 650. By this autumn we will have trained nearly 1,000."
A Friday report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that the number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country has surpassed the 900,000 mark.
The Ukrainian conflict broke out in March 2014 following a referendum in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, in which people voted overwhelmingly for reunification with Russia.
The situation, however, degenerated into a major armed conflict after Kiev dispatched troops to the eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk in April 2014 in an attempt to suppress pro-Russia forces there.
The persisting conflict has so far claimed the lives of at least 6,500 people and displaced nearly 1.5 million citizens, according the United Nations figures.
MFB/NT
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