New Delhi: A few dozen elite US troops and equipment were seen landing Sunday in southeastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, following President Joe Biden’s orders to deploy 1,700 soldiers there amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Hundreds more infantry troops of the 82nd Airborne Division are expected to arrive at the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, 56 miles from Poland’s border with Ukraine. The US Army Boeing C-17 Globemaster plane brought a few dozen troops and vehicles.
US officials on Saturday indicated Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by midmonth to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier in the week, US planes brought equipment and logistics troops in preparation for the arrival of elements of the division to the airport, located some 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Poland’s border with Ukraine.
Polish soldiers have previously worked together with the US division on missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Major Przemyslaw Lipczynski, spokesman for the Polish Army 18th Mechanized Division.
The officials made no suggestion that a prospective conflict would involve the use of nuclear weapons, but the Russian exercise — likely involving the test-launching of unarmed long-range missiles on Russian territory — could be used as a message aimed at deterring the West from intervening in Ukraine.
According to media reports, officials were warning that a full Russian invasion could lead to the quick capture of Kyiv and potentially result in as many as 50,000 casualties.
(_Vinayak)