Additional 3,000 U.S. troops to be deployed to Poland

• An additional 3,000 U.S. troops will be sent to Poland amid the growing possibility of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• This deployment will increase the number of troops deployed and repositioned to Eastern Europe to 6,000.
• The U.S. forces in Poland could also help in the evacuation of Americans from Ukraine.

As a Russian invasion of Ukraine is becoming more likely, an additional 3,000 U.S. troops have been ordered to be sent to Poland by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday.

According to a senior Defense official, the troops will come from the 82nd Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team based out of Fort Bragg, N.C. They will depart over the next few days and are expected to be in position early next week.

The orders were reportedly directed by President Biden after the White House warned of an imminent military assault on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a press briefing, “We’ve been clear that it could take a range of different forms, but I want to be equally clear that one of those forms is a rapid assault on the city of Kyiv.”

According to Sullivan, officials have not yet determined if Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade.

However, over 100,000 Russian troops have been placed around Russia’s border with Ukraine and in neighboring Belarus. Intelligence reports predict that an invasion could happen before the Winter Olympics end on Feb. 20.

Officials have started urging Americans in Ukraine to evacuate, with Biden giving approval for U.S. forces in Poland to help in the evacuation.

This makes the number of U.S. forces deployed to and repositioned to Eastern Europe a total of 6,000.

The additional troops ordered on Friday will join the 1,700 airborne soldiers sent to Poland on Feb. 2, who are commanded by Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue.

Nearly two-thirds of the 1,700 have already arrived in Poland, and are part of roughly 3,000 troops ordered to Eastern Europe last week.

The rest of the 3,000 include 300 members of the 18th Airborne Corps headquarters element sent to Germany and 1,000 troops repositioned from Germany to Romania.

The deployment of 6,000 troops aims to “reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO’s eastern flank, train with host-nation forces, and contribute to a wide range of contingencies.”

All troops will report to U.S. European Command head Gen. Tod Wolters.

The senior official reiterated that the deployments are only temporary and are briefly “meant to supplement” over 80,000 U.S. troops already in Europe on permanent and rotational deployments.

Source: The Hill