US Soldiers in Ukraine Pulling Out Amid Warnings of Imminent Russian Invasion

Authored by military.com and submitted by crimsonheart092
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U.S. troops in Ukraine are pulling out as U.S. officials are growing increasingly concerned of an impending Russian invasion.

160 Florida National Guard soldiers, the only known U.S. troops in the country, are being repositioned elsewhere in Europe, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement released Saturday morning.

Those troops, assigned to the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, were a part of a previously planned training mission with Ukrainian forces, mostly operating far from the country's border where Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed some 130,000 troops. U.S. troops from different units have been rotating to train Ukraine's military since 2015, with the Florida soldiers arriving in November as Russian forces were amassing.

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Biden has pledged that U.S. troops will not fight in Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO. But the news comes as thousands of U.S. soldiers, alongside troops from other European powers including the United Kingdom and France, mobilize to bolster NATO's eastern flank.

The Biden administration continues to escalate its warning about the likelihood of war.

A senior State Department official told reporters Saturday that it is "past time" for Americans to leave Ukraine, saying routine embassy services, such as help with passports, in Kyiv will be suspended on Sunday as key personnel evacuate.

"It appears increasingly likely this situation is heading toward active conflict...there are limits of what we can do in a war zone," the senior State Department official told reporters.

On Friday, President Joe Biden ordered an additional 3,000 paratroopers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to Poland. Those forces, along with the original 1,700 mobilized earlier this month, are expected to be in place within a few days. Roughly 1,000 U.S. troops with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, a Stryker squadron based out of Germany, are in the midst of deploying to Romania.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: Thousands More US Troops Heading to Europe as Threat of Russian Invasion of Ukraine Grows

Wolffe2100 on February 13rd, 2022 at 13:41 UTC »

Honestly, as someone who was 13 when the war started, I'm too tired to worry anymore. The threat of imminent escalation has been with us for 8 years, which were enough for Ukraine to rebuild the army and make it better than it ever was. If the russians come in , they will be met with a fierce resistance and there will be no turning back for them

As for the U.S soldiers leaving , everyone is thankful for them teaching our soldiers and giving our army the weapons needed to defend ourselves. Honestly, no one gives a shit if they leave or not since it has always been and will be our war with Russia and it's only up to our army to defend us

AddictionDesigner on February 13rd, 2022 at 08:34 UTC »

It's fun to live in Ukraine right now. While our apolitical part is panicking right now, others live our 8th year with a war. As we say - Keep calm and clean your machine gun.

valleyman02 on February 13rd, 2022 at 05:50 UTC »

I will remind everybody that Ukraine has 250,000 regulars. the second largest army in Europe behind Russia. Mass casualties is right.