Ukraine's new National Guard starts training

Fighters of Ukraine's newly formed National Guard take part in military training on an Interior Ministry base in Novi Petrivtsi near Kyiv.
© Kostyantyn Chernichkin

The first 500 fighters of Ukraine's newly formed National Guard gathered on Kyiv's Independence Square and then went to start training at an Interior Ministry base in Novi Petrivtsi, not far from Kyiv. They will spend 15 days on base in military training before being deployed. Ukraine's military is trying to ramp up to meet the Russian takeover of the Crimean peninsula and threat to invade mainland Ukraine. The nation has only some 6,000 combat-ready soldiers, but parliament on March 17 approved $670 million in emergency funding. Additionally, some 40,000 volunteers are being enlisted in the National Guard.