Global update
NATO AND RUSSIAN FORCES CLASH…..
On Sunday the 8th Feb at approximately 7am elements of the US 7th Cavalry landed upon the small front line island of Utes. Their objective was to secure the island and neutralise Russian jet fighters capable of intercepting and destroying ships of the expeditionary task force fleet in the Baltic Straights. CNN reporter Paul Davidson was aboard the USS Khe Sanh as the US strike forces left in the early hours of the morning.
Davidson reported; ‘In the darkness of the early morning we heard the boom of the colossal guns of the battleship USS Iowa as the airfield was shelled prior to troops from 7th Cavalry assaulting the island. At approximately 7am, 6 troop aboard helicopters left the assault ship USS Khe Sanh. They left the deck of the assault ship in unison, dropping fast and skimming over the wave tops, disappearing into the morning mist as they head north to the occupied island of Utes.
The battle lasted 2 hours, with the US forces successfully securing the island. I was later escorted to the island and allowed to speak with the US forces involved in the operation. The troopers were in good spirits, I heard talk of a Black Hawk transport helicopter shot down in the initial assault. Information is still incoming but it appears the helicopter was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the first wave and was destroyed, killing the crew and the troops aboard. This is a heavy loss for the Task Force at such an early stage in the operation and may be a dark sign of what is to come in this dramatically escalating conflict’.
Only 48 hours later US and UK forces made landings upon the islands of Hiivmaa and Saaremaa on the west coast of Estonia. Both islands have been occupied by Russian ground forces and reports are incoming of heavy fighting on both islands. Whilst the world’s media is being allowed to accompanying the Task Force, direct access to military forces is being kept under tight control.
NASOE Update
No further information from NASOE CCC. SO (Special Operations) teams Osprey and Vulture remain assigned to the US 7th Cavalry as part of Operation Chimera in the Baltic region.