In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to VICE News that American troops and aircraft are currently en route to Russian border areas in the Baltics to support key NATO allies.
“The U.S. Army Europe and Africa troops and aircraft are en route [to the Baltics],” said the spokesperson, who also confirmed the 5,000 troops in the 82nd Airborne Division continue to be stationed in Poland along the Ukrainian border to support evacuees, in light of heightened fighting nearby.
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In a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, the military said 800 personnel and 20 attack helicopters would be moving from Italy and Germany to the Baltic region, coming only hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The deployment of troops is to reinforce and reassure Eastern European allies and NATO member states and part of an urgent dispatch at the direction of President Joe Biden. On Monday, Biden said that the Baltic deployment was a “purely defensive” move, warning Russia he intends to defend “every inch of NATO territory.” (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, all in the Baltic region, are members of NATO.)
The Biden administration has made it clear that the U.S. will not put American boots on the ground in Ukraine under any circumstances. There has been discussion inside the Pentagon regarding the support of a Ukrainian insurgency should the country fall to Russia.
The Pentagon spokesperson said that “six U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircraft (have been) deployed to forward operating locations in Estonia, Lithuania, and Romania today to support NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing missions.”
Russian fighter jets, the chief rival of NATO Air Forces since the Cold War, have been seen in nearby Ukraine flying and in dogfights with Ukrainian aircraft. Over 90,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Europe and the additional reinforcements have, so far, been characterized by the Pentagon as “temporary in nature.”
