US and Ukrainian soldiers attend an opening ceremony of the joint Ukrainian-US military exercise 'Fearless Guardian' at the Yavoriv training ground in the western region of Lviv on April 20, 2015 (AFP Photo/Yuriy Dyachyshyn)
Reuters: Guns and underpants: Ukrainian army hobbled by bureaucratic woes
After more than a year of fighting in eastern Ukraine, the country's regular army remains disorganized and poorly equipped. "The Defense Ministry needed to test underpants for a year before approving them for use. I'm not kidding," President Petro Poroshenko told a meeting of regional chiefs this month.
Building up an army to withstand the threat from Russia and pro-Russian separatists has been a formidable task. When Moscow annexed Crimea and conflict erupted in Ukraine's east, Kiev had outdated Soviet equipment and just 180,000 troops, of whom only 5,000 were battle ready, according to a speech Poroshenko made last month. The government has since boosted military spending to an unprecedented 5 percent of gross domestic product and increased troop numbers to 250,000. Some 50,000 are actively serving in the east.
But examples of incompetence and corruption within the military regularly appear in Ukrainian media. In June, Segodnya newspaper reported that an administrative error had left eight servicemen on their way to the front stranded for days in the city of Kharkiv.
Update: Ukraine Military Seeks to Modernize Past Soviet Era -- Defense News
WNU Editor: The U.S. is still committed to training the Ukraine Army .... U.S. to Train More Ukrainian Troops (Time) .... my advice to the U.S. and other NATO countries who want to boost the Ukraine Army .... start from scratch.
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