160 Florida National Guard Troops Ordered Out Of Ukraine

Kyiv – 160 soldiers in Florida’s National Guard station in Ukraine since November have been ordered to pull out of the country, and soon. The order came down from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to pull out the soldiers, who are part of the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The team had been sent to Ukraine last year as an effort to advise and mentor Ukrainian forces as part of Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Their orders now are to reposition elsewhere in Europe. “This repositioning does not signify a change in our determination to support Ukraine’s Armed Forces, but will provide flexibility in assuring allies and deterring aggression,” said a press release from the Pentagon. This comes as reports suggest around 130,000 Russian troops are now stationed outside the country’s borders as fears of an invasion mount. On Friday (Feb. 11), President Joe Biden ordered 3,000 troops of the 82nd Airborne to join another 3,000 soldiers already mobilized to Poland, Germany, and Romania. Meanwhile, Russia continues to tout its original demands to the West: Ukraine and other former Soviet states must be kept out of NATO, and the NATO alliance must halt any and all weapon deployments and roll back any forces in Eastern Europe; demands that have been constantly rejected. Despite the constant refusal from the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin that they should hold more talks with the U.S. and its allies despite their refusal to consider the main Russian demands.  Americans left in Ukraine have also been given a serious word of warning from President Biden: leave now. In an interview with NBC Nightly News, President Biden further warned Americans still in Ukraine that the United States will not be able to help, as he fears any fighting between Americans and Russians could start the one conflict everyone wants to avoid: World War III. “That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another,” said President Biden. Some airlines have also halted service to Ukraine until further notice. Ukraine’s air traffic safety agency Ukraerorukh additionally issued a statement declaring the airspace over the Black Sea to be a “zone of potential danger. Air traffic has been told to avoid the area for the remainder of the week.