US sends an elite unit 300km from Kherson

It is part of US President Joe Biden's broad commitments to strengthen NATO in the face of the Russian threat in Europe's backyard. He has been delivering in spades by sending not only more weapons and warships but also more troops, which is very costly for the US budget.

At the last NATO meeting here in Madrid, Biden announced that they would establish - in addition to the military bases they already have in Europe - a rotational troop system to give companies more mobility without having to move their families with them.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the military information shared by the Pentagon to its European allies warns of Putin's intentions not to stop his military invasion under the pretense of recovering the former territories that were once part of the USSR and are now sovereign and independent countries. There is fear, of course.

The Times front page with Putin and his Hitler moustache has been left for posterity. It is the damned dialectic, that distaff of History of repeating cycles that tests human intelligence because it should prevent them from returning.

Biden is reinforcing all US positions in Europe: in Cadiz, he recently renovated his military fleet consisting of the USS Carney, USS Donald Cook, USS Porter and USS Ross and replaced them with more modern frigates equipped with powerful helicopters and strategic missile launchers. All ships have been replaced by the USS Arleigh Burke, USS Roosevelt, USS Paul Ignatius and USS Bulkeley.

Another commitment has to do with sending troops mainly to reinforce the Eastern flank of Europe: the Pentagon recently deployed one of its most important elite units to Romania, the 101st Airborne Division, more popularly known as the Screaming Eagles, which specialises in air assault operations. It has sent 4,700 soldiers.

It is a highly specialised military group that has earned its fame through the pulse of history and is remembered for its important participation in World War II in Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge and the Allied invasion of Germany.

It has also deployed in the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Global War on Terrorism, Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq and Somalia.

It is now stationed at a base in Romania, just 300 kilometres from Mykolaiv and Kherson, precisely one of the regions illegally annexed by Russia - by decree - along with three other provinces: Zaporiyia with its powerful nuclear power plant that is the first in Europe and the third in the world; Donetsk and Luhansk.

Their deployment has prompted Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu to contact his US counterpart, General Lloyd Austin, to exchange comments.

On the subject

There is no longer any doubt that this war - World War III - will be a watershed in the world, changing the world order, institutions and international rules inherited since the end of 1945.

Uncertainty about the duration of this conflict keeps opinions here in Europe sharply divided, the reality is that we have already reached a point of no return and all parties involved are well aware of that.

Even last March, when Turkey mediated between Ukraine and Russia in search of peace, a ceasefire could still have been reached at that time.

After the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian territories, Putin's decree, his shameful ceremony, annexing these territories to the Russian constitution and taking the nuclear power plant under Russian control, the only thing left is to continue the war. There is no turning back, and Ukraine and its Western allies, as well as the Kremlin, know it.

For the Ukrainian population the suffering is indescribable. Winter will worsen their conditions, Putin wants it as a weapon to undermine Ukrainian morale and make them surrender. Wars are Dante's hell.