Poland: Hundreds of elite US
troops landed Sunday in southeastern Poland
near the border with Ukraine
on President Joe Biden's orders to deploy 1,700 soldiers there amid fears of a
Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The airborne infantry troops of the 82nd Airborne Division arrived
at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport on a US Army Boeing C-17 Globemaster plane.
Their commander is Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who on Aug. 30 was the last
American soldier to leave Afghanistan.
Biden ordered additional US
troops deployed to Poland, Romania and Germany
to demonstrate to both allies and foes America's
commitment to NATO's eastern flank amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. NATO's eastern member Poland borders both Russia
and Ukraine.
Romania borders Ukraine.
The division can rapidly deploy within 18 hours and conduct
parachute assaults to secure key objectives. Based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina,
the division's history goes back to 1917.
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 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 Maj.
Przemyslaw Lipczynski, a spokesman for the Polish Army's 18th Mechanized
Division.
Some 4,000 US
troops have been stationed in Poland
since 2017 on a rotating basis.
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