“The vanguard of soldiers have arrived at Jesionka airport”, in the southeast of the country, Major Brzenislaw Lichinsky said, adding that the bulk of the US battalion, made up of 1,700 soldiers, “will arrive soon,” according to Agence France-Presse.
He explained that the logistical preparations “began since last week.” And on Saturday, a plane carrying soldiers of the US 82nd Airborne Division landed in Yesionka.
The United States announced, on Wednesday, the dispatch of 3,000 additional American troops to Eastern Europe, to defend NATO countries “from any aggression”, amid diplomatic attempts to persuade Moscow to withdraw its forces massed on Ukraine’s borders..
The new US forces are added to the 8,500 soldiers that US President Joe Biden put on alert, at the end of January, to be deployed to the NATO Rapid Response Force if necessary..
Westerners have accused Moscow since the end of 2021 of mobilizing thousands of soldiers on the borders of Ukraine, in preparation for a possible invasion, which Russia denies, stressing that it “seeks only to ensure its security.”.
