Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin deployed thousands of additional troops to Europe while the Biden administration has upped the urgency of their calls for Americans to leave Ukraine.
The remaining 3,000 soldiers within the 82nd Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will be sent to Poland, a senior defense official said in a statement to reporters Friday afternoon. The troops will leave in the next couple of days and will be in place “by early next week.”
Their deployment comes slightly more than a week after a similar number of troops were given the same orders. Roughly 2,000 troops from Fort Bragg will deploy to Poland and Germany, while another 1,000 or so will reposition from Germany to Romania, joining the roughly 900 U.S. service members who are already there, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby explained at the time.
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Two-thirds of the troops originally deployed to Poland are there as of Friday’s announcement, per the official, who also revealed that the troops in Germany have already arrived.
“All told, these 5,000 additional personnel comprise a highly mobile and flexible force, capable of multiple missions,” the official added. “They are being deployed 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. They will report to Gen. Tod Wolters, Commander, U.S. European Command.”
Before either group had been deployed, President Joe Biden placed 8,500 U.S. troops on “heightened alert” for a possible deployment to Eastern Europe, though they will only go overseas for a NATO response force, if it gets activated.
While Russia’s military buildup along the Ukrainian border, where more than 100,000 are currently situated, has been a constant for weeks, the administration is ramping up its calls for Americans to leave Ukraine.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters shortly before the deployment was announced that Americans should leave within “24 to 48 hours” because commercial transit could be stopped if an invasion occurs.
“If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality,” he said. “A subsequent ground invasion would involve the onslaught of a massive force. With virtually no notice, communications to arrange a departure could be severed and commercial transit halted. No one would be able to count on air or rail or road departures once military action got underway.”
Biden affirmed a day earlier that U.S. troops would neither go into Ukraine to fight Russian forces should an invasion happen, nor would they help Americans leave the country from within. The military may, however, help evacuate Americans once they cross into Poland.
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The administration has warned for weeks that Russia could launch a “false flag operation” to create a reason to justify an invasion. Kirby told reporters, “We believe that Russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations.”
It’s unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will ultimately decide to invade Ukraine, U.S. officials have said repeatedly for weeks. He demanded that NATO stop expanding eastward, while the United States has threatened significant economic sanctions should the invasion occur.
