April 4, 2024 (EIRNS)—Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said any NATO bases in Ukraine will be seen as legitimate targets. When asked how Russia would react if NATO were to begin training troops in Ukraine, he answered: “These bases will burn. There once was the Yavorovsky training ground [on Ukrainian soil] where NATO had been training its troops. That target was absolutely legitimate.”
The Yavorovsky, or Yavoriv, base was targeted by a Russian rocket attack on March 13, 2022. According to the Ukrainian government, 35 people were killed and 134 injured. There were as many as 1,000 foreign fighters training at the base as part of the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, of which 180 were killed, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
