UK Troops on Standby to Defend NATO Member Estonia From Russia

The 4th Brigade are specialists in operating in the Baltic terrain, and if called up would join the some 1,000 British troops already deployed to Estonia.

British military helicopters, heading to Estonia to train alongside NATO allies, leave from Wattisham Flying Station, in Suffolk, England, on April 23, 2024. Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Thousands of British troops will be put on standby to be deployed to Estonia’s border with Russia, as part of a new NATO defence strategy.

The agreement signed by Defence Secretary John Healey and his Estonian counterpart will see the Army’s 4th Brigade put on “high readiness” and could see soldiers sent to NATO’s eastern flank within 10 days of being called up.