NATO Forces Practising Crossing Vistula River In Poland

Thousands of military men and units of hardware are involved.

In the first half of 2024, NATO is conducting a series of exercises under the common code name of Steadfast Defender-24. Separate units of the Polish army and NATO countries are practising crossing the Vistula River. More than 3.5 thousand soldiers and a thousand units of hardware are involved in these actions, reports PolskieRadio24.

It is noted that certain troops will be forcing the river on the banks of the Vistula as part of the Steadfast Defender-24 and Dragon-24 exercises.

The training of soldiers from Poland and NATO member states is the largest manoeuvres of this kind held by the North Atlantic Alliance in recent years.

Presidents Andrzej Duda and Gitanas Nauseda, as well as Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz will be watching as units from nine countries cross the Vistula River.

"Special ferries will be used to cross the river near Kwidzyn, and aviation will provide security for the transported weapons," the statement said.

The commander of the exercise, General Marek Sokolowski, explained how the operation will take place.

According to him, there are three axes: Polish, French and British-German. The ferries carry different equipment in different configurations, coordinated engineering-wise.

According to General Cezary Wisniewski, deputy general commander of the armed forces, March was chosen for the operation to make conditions as difficult as possible.

"It is not by chance that these exercises are held in March. We wanted to create certain challenges for our sappers and engineering troops, because it is much easier to cross in the middle of summer, but the point is not to make it easy, but to train well in difficult conditions," he added.

The general emphasised that the idea behind the exercise is to move troops very quickly before a conflict in case of a crisis phase.