Washington. February 9th. INTERFAX - At least four American military transport aircraft C-17A Globemaster III with units from the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army arrived in Poland on Tuesday, according to Western aviation resources.
The planes that took off from the base of Fort Bregg (North Carolina) landed at the airport of the Polish city of Rzeszow, located 90 km from the border with Ukraine. According to Washington's decision, a total of 1.7 thousand American paratroopers will be deployed there as part of the brigade combat team of the 82nd Airborne Division.
The day before, three planes with American paratroopers landed at Rzeszow-Yasenka airport. Another C-17A Globemaster III transporter arrived with cargo from an air base near the city of Dover (Delaware).
According to reports, at least 750 soldiers of the 18th Airborne Division of the US Army have already been transferred to Poland.
According to the US Army Command in Europe, an advanced group of American paratroopers arrived in Poland on Sunday. A military transport plane delivered the commander of the 82nd Division, General Christopher Donahue, several dozen servicemen and military equipment to Rzeszow.
Last week, servicemen of the operational headquarters group of the 18th Airborne Corps, which includes the 82nd Division, have already arrived at the airbase in Wiesbaden in Germany.
Last Wednesday, speaking at a briefing, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby indicated that the command of the US armed forces, in connection with the situation around Ukraine, is temporarily transferring additional forces to Germany, Poland and Romania.
At the same time, he clarified that "these troops will not fight in Ukraine. They will have to provide reliable defense of NATO allies."
In total, about 3 thousand American troops will be transferred to Europe or relocated to its territory as part of measures to strengthen the security of allies, he said.
Kirby said that "in the coming days, a thousand troops currently stationed in Germany will be moved to Romania, they will join the 900 American soldiers" who are already there. About 2 thousand more military personnel will be transferred from the United States to Poland in the coming days, he noted.
