Spain to add 150 more troops to NATO's Lithuania operation

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain will send another 150 troops to Lithuania to form part of a NATO mission aimed at deterring a Russian attack on the Baltic countries, the Spanish Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The troops will be part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence operation, which is "demonstrating the strength of the transatlantic bond, and making clear that an attack on one ally would be considered an attack on the whole alliance," according to the treaty organization.

The mission's battlegroups are operating in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland.

A further 350 Spanish troops have already been deployed in Lithuania.

So far, Spain has ruled out directly sending weapons to Ukraine but has been bolstering its presence alongside NATO.

Besides troops, Spain has sent warships to the Black Sea and fighter jets to Bulgaria.

Madrid is also set to play a new intelligence role in the Russia-Ukraine war.

On Monday, EU authorities announced that the EU Satellite Center, based outside the Spanish capital, will be deployed in the conflict and will share intelligence with Ukrainian officials.

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

So far, at least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, have been injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.

Nearly 680,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday.