Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday ordered an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Poland amid fears over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. The extra forces, sent at the direction of Biden, increase the total number of U.S. forces deployed to Eastern Europe to 6,000. The troops will depart over the next few days and […]
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday ordered an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Poland amid fears over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The extra forces, sent at the direction of Biden, increase the total number of U.S. forces deployed to Eastern Europe to 6,000.
The troops will depart over the next few days and are expected to be in place by early next week, according to a senior Defense official, per The Hill.
The order comes as the White House warned a Russian invasion of Ukraine could involve a military assault on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
“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,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a White House briefing.
Indeed, Russia has stationed well over 100,000 troops at the Ukrainian border and in Belarus.
The additional American troops will join the 1,700 airborne soldiers sent to Poland earlier this month, nearly two-thirds of which have already arrived.
Other U.S. troops were positioned in Germany and Romania.
