You're reading: Germany to take part in military exercises in Ukraine

BERLIN - The German Army, the Bundeswehr, will participate in two military exercises in Ukraine this summer, Deutsche Welle radio reported on July 6.

The exercise will involve “individual personnel” taking part in the ground forces exercise Rapid Trident as well as the marine exercise Sea Breeze, involving NATO and the United States, in summer-autumn 2015.

The Bundeswehr took part in the same exercises in 2014 despite the conflict between Russian backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine.

Rapid Trident is scheduled to take place in Yavoriv in western Ukraine, 50 kilometers from Lviv, and is expected to involve 1,800 troops from 18 countries, a significant increase on the 1,200 that took part last year.

The exercise will be American led and is expected to last 11 days and will launch after an official ceremony on July 20.

Sea Breeze, a joint U.S.-Ukraine operation, is expected to last from August 31 to September 12 in the Black Sea. Up to 2,500 troops are to take part in the exercises.