UK Troops Ready for Combat in Eastern Europe if Russia Invades any NATO country

UK Army Chief Rob Magowan said yesterday that the British army ‘would fight tonight’ if Russia invaded another Eastern European country amid the escalation of Russia's war in Ukraine, Politico reports.

‘If the British army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight,’ Rob Magowan, the British deputy chief of defence staff, told the House of Commons Defence Committee. ‘I don't think anybody in this room should be under any illusion that if the Russians invade Eastern Europe tonight, we would meet them in that battle.’

NATO's rules of collective defence stipulate that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

The resonance came as the UK Ministry of Defence announced on Thursday that the British Army had completed live-firing tests of the Archer mobile howitzer, an artillery system designed for rapid deployment. This took place during a 12-day NATO exercise in Finland.

Eastern European NATO members, including Latvia and Estonia, have been nervous about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In turn, Finland, which borders Russia to the east, warned this week of sabotage of critical infrastructure.