18-nation military exercises underway in Ukraine

(Vatican Radio) Troops from eighteen nations, including American and Ukrainian soldiers, have begun what officials call the "largest multinational exercise ever held in Ukraine" in an effort to show unity and resolve towards Russia. The training began while fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists has escalated despite a ceasefire agreement. 

Click below to hear the report from correspondent Stefan Bos

About 1,800 troops from Ukraine, the United States, Britain, Germany and more than a dozen other member states and partners of the NATO military alliance are participating in the Rapid Trident 2015 exercise until the end of the month. The training is being held in the Lviv region near Ukraine's border with Poland. However Russia has already condemned the war games as a threat to an already shaky five-month truce agreement that aims to resolve one of Europe's bloodiest conflicts in decades by the end of the year.

CLEAR DEMONSTRATION

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was a "clear demonstration" of NATO's "unconditional support of the Kyiv authorities' policies in southeastern Ukraine, as a result of which civilians continue to die in region every day." More than 6,500 people are believed to have died in the fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces, including many children. 

Yet the U.S. Army in Europe said the regional command post exercise and field training exercise focused on peacekeeping and stability operations." It also stressed that the training "comes at the explicit request of the Ukrainian government and military."

MILITARY SUPPORT

Kiev has repeatedly asked for more Western military support against what it views as Moscow's aggression following Russia's  annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its alleged support for pro-Russian separatists. 

Officials say the exercise comes amid an upsurge in violence in eastern Ukraine. On Sunday, Ukraine's military and pro-Russian rebels accused each other of shelling residential districts in and around the rebel-held city of Donetsk, after police reported at least four civilians were killed during the prior 24 hours, and Ukrainian presidential administration spokesman Andriy Lysenko said at least five Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in separate clashes in the same area.