Over 1,800 troops from 14 NATO and “partner nations” have arrived in western Ukraine for the huge Rapid Trident exercise. Coming amid a fragile truce in the country’s east, they’re set to evaluate the readiness of US-trained Ukrainian troops.

This year more than 1,800 servicemen from 13 countries (Ukraine, the USA, Canada, the UK, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Turkey, Romania, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Norway, and Sweden) participate in the exercise.

The aim of Rapid Trident 2016 is to implement in the Ukrainian army the world experience, ensure professional experience exchange, and improve cooperation among units of land forces of the USA, Ukraine, NATO nations and PfP nations.

For the first time, Rapid Trident will be conducted considering the JMTG-U activities.

The exercise will last two weeks at different sites of the military training field of the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre. More than 200 vehicles and 2 Mi-8 helicopters will be used during the exercise.