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Britain has mobilised maritime, air, and land forces to strategic NATO locations across eastern Europe as part of a multinational effort to deter Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
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Royal Navy ships, British Army troops and Royal Air force fighters have bolstered NATO forces in eastern Europe.
HMS Trent has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, conducting NATO exercises alongside Merlin Helicopters and RAF P8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond has also been deployed from Portsmouth to further bolster the UK’s NATO contribution.
Further, Challenger 2 tanks and armoured vehicles of the Royal Welsh battlegroup have arrived in Estonia from Germany, with further equipment and approximately 1,000 troops – doubling the UK presence in Estonia as part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence.
RAF Typhoon fighter jets have completed their first air policing missions across the region, with an additional four aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
Typhoons deployed from bases in Cyprus and the UK are now patrolling NATO airspace over Romania and Poland alongside NATO allies with Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft in support.
“Our armed forces are once again being called upon in the service of our nation and I salute the bravery and sense of duty shared by all our personnel who have been deployed to support NATO,” UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP said.
“Alongside our NATO allies, these deployments constitute a credible deterrent to stop Russian aggression threatening the territorial sovereignty of member states.”
Secretary Wallace recently held a virtual donor conference with more than 25 countries aimed at coordinating support for Ukraine.
The countries have committed humanitarian and military support, including ammunition and anti-tank weapons.
The UK has offered to conduct logistics operations to support the delivery of donations.
“We will make all deployments necessary to ensure strong and credible deterrence and defence across the alliance, now and in the future,” Secretary Wallace added.
“Our measures are and remain preventive, proportionate and non-escalatory.”
[Related: Australia to deliver military equipment to Ukraine ]
