SAS give advice on sabotage to allies
BRITAIN has deployed at least 100 special forces soldiers to prepare Ukrainian forces for an attack.
Troops from the SAS, the Special Boat Service, Special Forces Support group and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment are understood to be advising on counter-insurgency tactics, sniping and sabotage.
Britain’s armed forces have been able to deploy such a large number to the region because they are no longer tied up in Afghanistan.
Although members of the SAS and SBS are still operating in Syria and Iraq, the numbers are believed to be small.
A source said: “UK special forces have been deployed to the region to help and advise. They have a wide skill set which will no doubt be very useful to Ukrainian forces.”
At least 1,500 winter-trained British troops are now based in Estonia, which also borders Russia.
And the US also continues to send soldiers to Eastern Europe, with 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps personnel flying in from the giant Fort Bragg base in North Carolina.
BLOOD
Intelligence sources said the Russian army was equipping military field hospitals with blood supplies amid fears that an invasion is imminent.
Dozens of field hospitals close to Russia’s border with Ukraine now have the capability to deal with hundreds of casualties.
Over the last few days, tons of medical supplies along with doctors and nurses were said to have arrived in the border zone where fighting would be at the most intense.
Russia has more than 100,000 troops stationed along the border, along with more than 1,000 tanks.
But western intelligence experts believe President Vladimir Putin’s generals plan to increase the number of combat troops further.
Russian special forces called Spetsnaz have also arrived in the region along with a special police unit called the Rosgvardia, which previously operated in Syria.
The police unit is trained in counter-insurgency missions and operates behind advancing troops.