U.S. troops arrive in Latvia to reinforce NATO east flank as Russia starts war

Some forty U.S. service members arrived in Latvia from Italy early on Thursday (February 24), the first group of what is expected to be a deployment of more than 300 troops, the Latvian Defence Ministry said. The troops, which will be based at Adazi military base just outside the Latvian capital Riga, arrived around midnight local time (2200GMT) before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden's Tuesday (February 22) announcement of a redistribution of troops in Europe includes sending 800 infantry soldiers to the Baltic region and up to eight F-35 fighter jets to several operating locations along NATO's eastern flank, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.