U.S.World

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States will go to Europe

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States will go to Europe

Soldiers from a U.S. airborne assault division are heading to Europe to participate in the defense of NATO’s eastern flank after the Kremlin said Russia is at war with the military alliance in Ukraine.

The deployment of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, nicknamed “Screaming Eagles,” was announced by the U.S. mission to NATO.

The announcement said about 2,400 troops will be deployed to NATO countries Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia to “reassure our allies and deter our adversaries.”

The strengthening of NATO’s presence in Europe comes amid fears that Russia’s war could spread beyond Ukraine, which could lead to a larger confrontation between the 30-nation NATO alliance and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.

Earlier, the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Sergey Kiriyenko, expressed the opinion that NATO was in fact at war with Russia.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of Russia’s Digoria forum of young political scientists, Kiriyenko noted, according to the government agency TASS, that there is a “hot military operation” against Russia by the West.

“We understand perfectly well that on the territory of Ukraine we are not at war with Ukraine and certainly not with Ukrainians. The entire NATO bloc is at war with Russia, simply on Ukrainian territory and at the hands of Ukrainians,” Kiriyenko said.

The U.S. and other NATO countries are supplying weapons and other assistance to Ukraine to repel Russian aggression. However, they have repeatedly denied the involvement of NATO troops in combat operations in Ukraine.