London: Thanasis Gavos
About 8,000 British soldiers will be deployed between April and June in Eastern European countries to participate in exercises designed to counter Russian aggression.
It is one of the largest missions of British troops abroad since the end of the Cold War and includes exercises in Finland, Estonia, Poland and northern Macedonia.
It is also planned to send 72 Challenger 2 tanks and 120 Warrior armored vehicles, along with other armaments.
The exercises will involve a total of tens of thousands of troops from other countries that are members of NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force, namely countries such as Denmark, Norway and Iceland.
The Defense Ministry in London commented that the exercises would improve the ability of British and Finnish forces to work together “preventing Russian aggression in Scandinavia and the Baltic states”.
According to British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, the move shows “solidarity and strength”, at a time when “Europe’s security has never been more important”.
Meanwhile, in the morning briefing on developments in Ukraine in British Ministry of Defense He said that “the battle of Donbas remains the main strategic focus of Russia, in order to achieve the stated goal of securing control of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.”
He noted that in these areas the fighting is particularly fierce around Lisichansk and Severodonetsk, while an attempt is being made by Russia to advance south from Izium to Slovyansk.
The British ministry added that due to the strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian territorial gains are limited and have been achieved at a significant cost to Russian forces.
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