A group of volunteers has secured approval and financial backing from the Ukrainian authorities to train snipers for the army at a military base near the southern port of Mikolayiv. The conditions are far from perfect: some of the weapons are older than the men using them, and instruction manuals date back to the 1970s. But the organizers hope the snipers will make a crucial difference if renewed fighting breaks out with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. (Levko Stek, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service) …read more