The U.S. is supporting its ally Ukraine in a war against Russian-backed militants who have seized swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine since 2014, in a conflict that's killed 10,000 people by some counts.
Soldiers from the New York Army National Guard contribute to the international effort to help Ukrainian Army excel in repelling Russian aggression, according to CBS News.
Lt Col William Murphy, who was deployed in Ukraine in November, says the Ukrainians do not have the equipment they need, but "what they can do with the little they have is exceptional."
Read alsoBellingcat identifies Russian officers, militants as perpetrators of January 2015 Mariupol artillery strikeThe U.S. is still ramping up its support for Ukraine; more than 200 Javelins, effective anti-tank missiles, were delivered earlier this month.
"They learn from us the newest experience of the hybrid war against Russia," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CBS News. "And we learn from them their tactics and strategy, which makes my army much more efficient."
Poroshenko wants more weapons from the U.S., and UN peacekeepers, stressing that Ukraine is the front line in a new Cold War with Russia.
"They want to have Soviet Union back," Poroshenko said, adding that he believes Vladimir Putin, who was sworn in Monday for his fourth term as Russian President, wants to reconquer Ukraine and rebuild the "Russian Empire."
Ukraine says thousands of Russians are fighting in the east, alongside the militants. Moscow has repeatedly denied it is involved in the conflict
But Col. Dennis Deeley, who leads the American trainers in Ukraine, is also reminded of the Cold War. The Ukrainians use old Soviet-era tanks -- the type the Russian enemy used when he served in Europe in the 1980s.
"When you come around the corner and you see a tank, a Russian tank, a T-64 tank, its barrel pointed at you -- it makes you hesitate for a second as you come around the corner in your vehicle," Deeley said.
The Cold War ended in 1991, but now Ukraine's dangerous conflict once again pits Russia against the West.
