Marines with 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, are transported in a CH-53E Super Stallion in preparation for Exercise Cold Response 2022, near Bardufoss, Norway, Mar. 8, 2022. US Marine Corps Photo
The Pentagon is repositioning 200 Marines from Norway to Lithuania as part of the ongoing U.S. response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Latvian Armed Forces soldiers take part in multinational training during Saber Strike 22 at Camp Adazi, Latvia, March 7, 2022. US Army Photo
The president of Latvia argued today that if NATO had reacted more strongly in 2008 to Russian aggression against neighboring Georgia and the Kremlin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Moscow wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine. Read More
A F/A-18E Super Hornet from the ‘Blue Blasters’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 34 prepares to launch from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on March 17, 2022. USNI News Photo
ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS HARRY S. TRUMAN IN THE IONIAN SEA – For the longest stretch in decades, the Mediterranean Sea has played host to the deafening roar of U.S. carrier aircraft launching into Europe. Read More
Kremlin
The harsh sanctions already imposed on Russian businesses, financial institutions and individuals following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine are “a rolling program” that can be ratcheted up as events unfold, a senior United Kingdom diplomat said Tuesday. Read More
Russian President Vladimir Putin
A frontline prime minister in the Ukraine crisis said today that Russian President Vladimir Putin underestimated Ukraine’s willingness to fight off a Russian invasion.
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A Finnish Border Guard member on duty in Finnish Lapland near the Russian border in 2021. Finnish Border Guard Photo
This post has been updated to correct the number of F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters Finland is set to aquire.
Despite sharing an 830-mile border with Russia, a senior Finnish defense official said he did not see an immediate military threat from Moscow. Read More
The following is the Feb. 9, 2022, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine. Read More
Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense site in Romania on Oct. 14, 2021. US Navy Photo
In a proposal to ease tensions over a Russian military build-up in Ukraine, NATO and U.S. negotiators offered Moscow the opportunity to inspect two ballistic missile defense sites to prove the alliance has no offensive missiles.
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Adm. Pierre Vandier. French Navy Photo
This post has been updated to correct the planned tonnage of France’s new carrier. The carrier is planned to be 80,000 tons.
The French Navy is only now starting to recover from 30 years of deep budget cuts that saw its fleet size halved, its senior admiral said Monday. Read More
Sailors heave a phone-and-distance line on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) during a replenishment-at-sea on Oct. 22, 2021. US Navy Photo
Putting an American aircraft carrier strike group under alliance control should be a “clear message to Russia” that its 30 members are unwavering in their commitment to come to each other’s defense if attacked, NATO’s secretary general said Friday.
