Foreign experts since the beginning of reforming the Ukrainian Armed Forces have trained 862 Ukrainian instructors, Speaker of the Ministry of Defense Dmytro Hutsuliak has said.

"One of the main areas of training under NATO standards is training Ukrainian instructors with the participation of foreign specialists. Some 862 Armed Forces instructors have passed such training," he said at a briefing in Kyiv.

Hutsuliak said within the framework of reforming the training system under NATO standards since May 2016, highly mobile airborne troops have started training a battle battalion group under the Striker program.

According to the ministry speaker, last year the intensity of military exercises increased significantly.

"If in 2013-2014 tactical brigade-level exercises were not conducted at all, some 15 such exercises were conducted in 2015 and 20 in 2016. The scale of training this year is also evidenced by more than 200 battalion tactical exercises and 190 operational training events," he said.