Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Caught in America's Election Battle, Ukraine Hopes for More US Military Support Henry Ridgwell Ukrainians are watching with added interest as Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden enter the final days of the U.S. presidential race. Ukraine has taken on huge strategic importance for the United States and its NATO allies since Ukraine's ongoing 2014 war with Russia, while allegations of corruption linked to Ukraine continue to cloud the election campaign. The alliance was underscored last month as U.S. military personnel took part in "Exercise Fiction Urchin" alongside Ukrainian special forces in the west of Ukraine. U.S. Air Force CV-22 Ospreys and other aircraft flew low over the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, drawing attention from residents below. The joint exercises took place as the Kremlin staged military drills alongside Chinese and other forces as part of "Exercise Caucasus 2020" in the south of Russia. The U.S. has significantly bolstered defense ties with Kyiv since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the incursion of Russian fighters into eastern Ukraine. "With the ongoing conflict in the east, I think we can do what we are doing now, it is partnering with Ukraine, working together, showing them as well as NATO and the other Western allies that we are here, we stand beside Ukraine," a major from U.S. Special Operations Forces taking part in the exercise told the Reuters news agency, asking that his name be withheld. The increased U.S. military support for Ukraine resonates most with Ukrainians as they watch the U.S. election unfold from afar, says political analyst Alexey Arestovich. "What's important to them is that the U.S. does not stop its military support. That is the level of understanding," Arestovich told VOA in a recent interview in Kyiv. .