Amid Ukraine tensions, U.S. puts 8,500 troops on heightened alert

Aerial view of the Pentagon.
(Image credit: Staff/AFP via Getty Images)

Military units stationed in the United States have been notified by the Pentagon that they should be ready to deploy to Europe should NATO send a request.

Russia has spent the last year moving tens of thousands of troops to the border with Ukraine, and the U.S. warns that an invasion could be imminent. The Pentagon has put about 8,500 troops on heightened alert, CBS News reports, and most would deploy as part of the NATO Response Force. Some could be sent to other countries in Eastern Europe to bolster security there, should matters escalate even further.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.